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Agreed. The demise of the property has been painful to watch.
As mentioned in other posts, there is a lack of amenities and draws to compliment the Civic Center and their Convention Center. My pie in the sky thinking regarding that block would be to redevelop it with the mixed use approach you mentioned in your post, one that also incorporates the former Sears Auto Care property and the Municipal Auditorium. The retail component would obviously be smaller than it is now, but I would look for as many social and recreational draws as possible. Maybe look into having a smaller performance space for comedy and concerts. A space that would hold no more than say 2-3K for a concert and replace the Municipal Auditorium as a modern smaller performance space. As discussed on other threads, a space for indoor/outdoor recreation options. A climbing wall, obstacle course (similar to the American Ninja Warrior TV Show), indoor/outdoor bike riding, perhaps even something similar to a Top Golf type space, but smaller in scale.
To make a mixed-use property work well downtown in replacement of the CTC there would need to be 2-3 main anchors of employment. What Charleston needs is a couple major employers that want to be downtown. There's plenty of empty office space downtown, but it is quickly becoming outdated. Imagine what could happen if a couple thousand people were added to the downtown business crowd. Young professionals would want to live downtown, which would drive the demand for housing. The old properties would be converted first into lofts and such (which is happening to some extent now), but eventually all of that will lead to new construction. IF there were jobs, people would come. Charleston has a unique position, being isolated from other major metros. So far that has not helped, but in reality if promoted correctly could be a draw for some. Think about cities out west like Boise, Spokane, Bozeman, etc... They all prosper despite their isolation. Charleston really isn't isolated considering that within a few hours you can be in many different major metro areas (Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Raleigh, DC, etc...). Add the proximity to a National Park now, and that should be enough to at least stabilize the local economy.
It all boils down to leadership! We simply don't have any here and probably never will!
Hypothetically, in a redeveloped CTC I could see a new high end cinema (replace Park Place), a big climbing gym (large enough to draw people in from miles), an entertainment venue like a Main Event https://www.mainevent.com/, some restaurants and stores, new class-A office space, a new hotel (something like Aloft or Hyatt), and some residential units above stores and offices.
Slack Plaza still needs remodeled (which is still planned I hope), and the walkway between the Civic Center/CTC and Capitol Street needs to be a focal point of the development. The Bus Station needs removed or moved somewhere else.
That all sounds good to me. It makes too much sense.
I hate to use this phrase because it sounds political but I'm not coming from a political angle. But there has long been an aristocracy in Charleston that has never really been interested in what's best for the city. I'm not even sure that's the correct phrase for what I'm trying to describe but it's a tragic problem.
You've got to go back to the Hutchinson administration of the 70's to find where there was any true vision happening here. I looked him up a minute ago. The WV Encyclopedia says the mall was his dream to keep Charleston the retail hub of southern WV. Clearly the ball got dropped after the mall came into existence. Just a series of lack luster mayors for decades after that. It's like Charleston just ran off of fumes from the boom of the 50's and 60's.
Back in the mid 80's I remember being on a Piedmont Airlines plane reading their inflight magazine. They did a very nice article about Charleston at that time. They would do a different city that they carried to each issue. Anyhow even at that time they were warning that Charleston needed to decide what it wanted to become.
From 1980 to 2003, Charleston had a new mayor every 4 years. One has to ask if the lack of continuity created obstacles to getting meaningful projects and programs started and finished.
Also, sixteen years of having Danny Jones in office led to minimal progress in the city. Can anyone list more than one or two positive developments for the city during his term?
From 1980 to 2003, Charleston had a new mayor every 4 years. One has to ask if the lack of continuity created obstacles to getting meaningful projects and programs started and finished.
Also, sixteen years of having Danny Jones in office led to minimal progress in the city. Can anyone list more than one or two positive developments for the city during his term?
Apart from the renovation to the Civic Center, which was Loooooonnnnngggggg overdue, mediocre at best, and did not even include the coliseum part, Danny Jones did nothing for the city. Mayor Amy Goodwin seems more interested in social justice issues then setting a vision for the city's turnaround. It's sad!
That all sounds good to me. It makes too much sense.
I hate to use this phrase because it sounds political but I'm not coming from a political angle. But there has long been an aristocracy in Charleston that has never really been interested in what's best for the city. I'm not even sure that's the correct phrase for what I'm trying to describe but it's a tragic problem.
You've got to go back to the Hutchinson administration of the 70's to find where there was any true vision happening here. I looked him up a minute ago. The WV Encyclopedia says the mall was his dream to keep Charleston the retail hub of southern WV. Clearly the ball got dropped after the mall came into existence. Just a series of lack luster mayors for decades after that. It's like Charleston just ran off of fumes from the boom of the 50's and 60's.
Back in the mid 80's I remember being on a Piedmont Airlines plane reading their inflight magazine. They did a very nice article about Charleston at that time. They would do a different city that they carried to each issue. Anyhow even at that time they were warning that Charleston needed to decide what it wanted to become.
I agree completely. Those that have the ability to infuse life into the local economy by opening new businesses and investing in properties don't seem to have the stomach to do so here. That's not the case in other parts of the state where people invest in property and businesses.
Take Clendenin for example. Clendenin was devastated by a flood in 2016, and it took a couple years to get things in order and vacant structures destroyed. Before the flood, there was somewhere between 900-1200 people living in town limits, and my guess is 4-5,000 living in the area. The flood forced a lot of people to move, but not everyone did. For some reason people have taken an interest in the town. There has been several new businesses that have opened up in town that weren't there before. There's even a bed and breakfast that has opened up in the old bank building downtown. There's plans for a brewery, and there's double the restaurants now then there was before. The only thing that didn't come back was a nice grocery store, but that is mainly because the owner of that building is being a jerk. Clendenin has rebounded, and people who have interest in seeing the town prosper are doing a great job of investing and repurposing properties.
In Charleston we have a couple groups that seem interested in economic development. One group is the Bullock's who have been doing an excellent job in Elk City. That part of the city is going places. There still needs to be some newer urban housing, but the environment in Elk City is lively. The other example I can think of is whoever is making those Lofts on Quarrier Street.
I can tell you that if I had the money, I would try to make something happen. But you have to take risks to make money, and I guess I am no better then anyone else when it comes to that.
Hopefully someone with a vision can get it for a decent price.
It's just hard to expect any retail to have a desire to be in a 80's era mall, in a downtown district of a shrinking city, with a drug/homeless/crime epidemic that surrounds the property, and in the midst of a global pandemic where people are encouraged to not congregate in public spaces.
Interesting tidbit from the article, I did not know CURA owned the Macey's property now. I suppose that's a good thing because they can package that in with the mall when/if it sells.
I read where the Sears space at the Huntington Mall was bought by Cabell County Board of Education and that they hope to turn it into some form or another of a trade/tech school.
Interesting tidbit from the article, I did not know CURA owned the Macey's property now. I suppose that's a good thing because they can package that in with the mall when/if it sells.
I read where the Sears space at the Huntington Mall was bought by Cabell County Board of Education and that they hope to turn it into some form or another of a trade/tech school.
My sister drove down from Columbus this past weekend to visit our parents and headed over to Tidewater for lunch. She then took a stroll around the mall and sent me some videos on her phone and it almost brought a tear to my eyes. So many vacant stores! It was devoid of life and this was on a Saturday. What a shame that such a great place ended up in such a sad state. My only thought is that they could aim for conversion to an outlet mall- few are indoors but does it really matter at the end of the day. There are three interstate highways that converge on Charleston so maybe- otherwise it will likely remain an eyesore until it meets the wrecking ball.
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