The demolition of City Center mall, Columbus’ longtime premier Downtown shopping destination, began on Oct. 1, 2009, after it had closed earlier that year.
Competition from shopping centers at Tuttle Crossing, Easton Town Center and Polaris Fashion Place dramatically changed where people in central Ohio shopped, leading retail tenants to flee to the suburbs and the shoppers who once flocked to former anchor malls like City Center, Northland and Westland to do the same.
City Center opened on Aug. 18, 1989, as part of the Capitol South redevelopment effort that began in the 1970s. It was Columbus’ first major new mall in some two decades since Westland opened in 1969.
The three-story Civic Center mall, with more than 1 million square feet of space, was anchored by department stores like Marshall Field’s and Jacobsons, and of course, Columbus’ own Lazarus.
With more than 100 stores, the $200-million shopping complex was a retail destination for shoppers from central Ohio and beyond. Approximately 100,000 people visited on the first day, and millions visited in the first month. Marshall Field’s reported $20,000 in sales in their first 45 minutes.