Beginnings
In 1966, Dominic Visconsi proposed building Garfield Mall in nearby Garfield Heights. In 1968, voters gave their blessing to the project, and the next year a proposal was revealed. Garfield Mall was to have heated underground parking and elevator/escalator access to stores such as JCPenney, Sears, Higbee's, and Halle's. In 1971, there were rumblings that Youngstown developer Edward J. DeBartolo was to build a shopping/apartment/office complex nearby, so Garfield Mall was scaled down and the proposed department stores signed with DeBartolo.
Randall Park Mall was built on the site of the Randall Race Track, a horse racing park immediately south of Thistledown Race Track. During construction, DeBartolo was very flamboyant; he would arrive at the construction site in a helicopter. During tours, he entertained the media with lavish Italian dinners of pizza and pasta from top chefs. DeBartolo envisioned Randall Park as a "City within a City," with the mall, boasting 200 shops, three 14-story apartments, two 20-story office buildings and a performing arts center (intended to compete with the Front Row Theater). At the time of its opening, it was the "world's largest shopping center," although the title was short-lived. The mall's architect, Frank DeBartolo (Edward's younger brother), opened the mall with actress Dina Merrill in 1976. At the time of its opening, North Randall's population was 1,500 and the mall's employee population was 5,000. The original department store anchors were Sears, JCPenney, May Company, Higbee's, and Horne's. Halle's maintained an option to build a store, but went out of business in 1982.
Westfield Great Northern (formerly Great Northern Mall), in the west side suburb of North Olmsted, opened at about the same time as Randall Park. Nearby Euclid Square Mall is also a product of the mid-1970s mall building boom.
Read more about this topic: Randall Park Mall
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