On August 19, 1959, two blocks of South Burdick Street, between Water and South streets, opened as the Kalamazoo Mall. It was the nation’s first pedestrian shopping mall, and about 50,000 people came to see it on the first day.
A plan for 1980
The idea started with a bigger one. In March 1958, the planning firm Victor Gruen & Associates presented Kalamazoo 1980, known as the Gruen Plan. It imagined a loop road around downtown, with parking, renovated stores and offices, and pedestrian malls at the center.
Kalamazoo had reason to worry. Suburban shopping centers were drawing people away, and there were fears that downtown would lose its place as the city’s center for business and culture. The full plan was never funded, but one piece of it was: a street without cars.
Built together
The city and the property owners along the street split the $60,000 cost. The mall grew over the years:
- 1959: two blocks, Water Street to South Street
- 1960: a third block, South Street to Lovell Street
- 1975: a fourth block, Water Street to Eleanor Street
Cars come back, a little
In the mid-1990s, reopening an access street through two blocks became the most debated part of a plan to revitalize downtown. Voters approved it in May 1997. Construction started in April 1998, and on October 9, 1998, a 14-foot-wide street opened with a weekend celebration. A citywide raffle chose the person who drove the first car down the mall since 1959.
Still the heart of downtown
Today the Kalamazoo Mall is where downtown’s holiday parade, Art Hop nights and Social District strolls all come together. Next time you walk it, look up at the storefronts. Many have been there for every chapter of this story.
Source: Kalamazoo Public Library local history, “From Wheels to Heels: The Mall City”. See more on our history page.