On a recent trip to Minneapolis, my family and I were enjoying a beautiful summer day sightseeing. Actually, the weather was almost too beautiful…clear skies, bright sunshine, and hot…really hot. My wife finally said “Is there a place like a mall or something around here where we can go to cool off, get a drink, and maybe do a little shopping?” I thought for a moment, and said “I think there is a mall just down the street. Let’s go there.” Of course this brought out a huge cheer from our children. As we pulled into the mall parking lot, I thought to myself “Southdale Center…that name rings a bell”. I had heard of this mall before, and I was certain there was a significance to it.
As we entered Southdale Center, my wife and children ran off to get a delicious cold drink. But in the back of my mind I kept thinking…why I have I heard of this mall before?
I started looking around and noticed the mall decor had this 50’s or 60’s vibe. Then I remembered why I had heard of this shopping center.
Southdale Center (aka Southdale) is America’s first fully enclosed climate controlled mall / shopping center, not to mention it being one of the oldest malls in the United States.
Southdale Center was developed by the Dayton Company (now known as the Target corporation) and designed by Victor Gruen. Gruen found individual stores in downtown venues to be inefficient, and the suburban lifestyle of 1950s America too “car-centric”. So, he wanted to design a building that would be a communal gathering place, where people would shop, drink coffee, and socialize, much like he remembered from his native Vienna. Southdale Center was loosely modeled on the arcades of several heavily populated European cities and purposely included “eye-level display cases” to “lure customers into stores”. Gruen imagined that Southdale would one day include “a medical center, schools and residences, not just a parade of glitzy stores.” The first plans unveiled for the shopping center were announced in 1952 by Gruen and Minnesota native, Donald Dayton. Groundbreaking for Southdale Center took place on October 29, 1954; 800 construction workers were needed to build the three-story, 800,000 sq ft (74,000 m2), 500 acre center, which had 5,200 parking spaces, 72 available tenants, and cost $20 million to construct. Due to Minnesota’s harsh climate in the winter, Gruen constructed the center with a roof and air-conditioning system capable of maintaining a comfortable temperature of 75 °F (24 °C) year round. Over 40,000 visitors attended the grand opening ceremony for Southdale Center on the morning of October 8, 1956. An additional 188,000 customers visited the mall throughout the following week.
I can imagine how excited people must have been to visit this mall back in the 50’s, especially in the middle of winter when it was freezing cold outside, but nice and cozy inside. What a novelty it must have been, and how times have changed as we now take trips to the mall for granted. Of course the tenants of Southdale Center have changed through the years, and the mall has been expanded, most recently in 2012 with the addition of an upscale food court which includes Qdoba Mexican Grill and Smashburger. Southdale Center now comprises 1,300,000 sq ft (120,000 m2) of leasable retail space, and contains approximately 123 retail tenants. The mall is partially owned by Simon Property Group and is anchored by Gordmans, Herberger’s, JCPenney, and Macy’s. A Homewood Suites by Hilton resort was approved by the City of Edina and will be constructed in the shopping center’s northeast parking lot in late 2016
As my family and I left this mall, I reflected on my visit. It just goes to show that even when you’re not looking, you never know what you might find. What turned out to be just a routine trip to an ordinary mall actually ended up being a visit to an historic landmark. I enjoyed my visit to Southdale Mall, and will return there again one day.
