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For Karl Cortese, the Great Mall of Milpitas is much more than just a mall. He’s come here often over the years, to go shopping with his wife or spend time at the Dave and Buster’s with his grandkids. But each time he visits, he can’t help but remember the place as it used to be.
Back in Karl’s day, the building was home to a massive Ford factory. Officially known as the San José Assembly Plant, the factory opened its doors in 1955. Karl started working there in 1968 and spent 15 years on the assembly line. For him, the mall’s shipping center offers the best window into the building’s industrial past. “There was that old green color and white letters and … the floor was all concrete,” Karl said. If you peek inside these days, not much has changed.
Nowadays, the only other way a visitor might know this building used to manufacture Ford cars is a small — and easy-to-overlook — display case of Ford-era memorabilia. For the most part, mall goers seem unaware of the factory’s history and its importance to the surrounding area…