West Capitol Drive and North 60th Street
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Greater Milwaukee's first bona fide shopping mall was developed by Ed Schuster & Company, a local department store chain, and designed by Seattle's John Graham, Junior. The retail facility was built on a 57-acre site, located 7 miles northwest of the Central Business District. Ground was broken in September 1953.
Originally an open-air venue, CAPITOL COURT encompassed approximately 745,000 leasable square feet. The 20 million dollar complex was comprised of a ground level of retail and service basement. The lower level included a truck tunnel, additional sales floors for the larger stores and a small shopping concourse.
An official grand opening was held August 28, 1956. The primary anchor, a 3-level (260,000 square foot) Schuster's, began business along with with a 2-level (65,000 square foot), Milwaukee-based T.A. Chapman. There were initially fifteen stores and services.
A 2-level (50,000 square foot) J.C. Penney opened, as the 1,709th store in the chain, on October 11, 1956. By early 1957, the retail roster at CAPITOL COURT had been expanded to a total of fifty-one retailers. These included Bitker-Gerner ladies' wear, Badger Paints, Chandler's Shoes an F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10 and two supermarkets; Krambo and Kohl's. A Kiddie Town mini amusement park was set up in the north parking area.
Construction commenced on a 60,000 square foot expansion in January 1959. It consisted of two-store blocks, built west of Schuster's. The addition, dedicated on September 25, 1959, brought seventeen new stores. The mall now encompassed approximately 805,000 leasable square feet and contained seventy-five stores and services.
Competitors of CAPITOL COURT included BAY SHORE CENTER (1954) {3.8 miles northeast, in Milwaukee}, as well as MAYFAIR CENTER (1958) {3.3 miles southwest, in Wauwatosa} and NORTHRIDGE MALL (1972) {5.9 miles northwest, also in Milwaukee}.
In April 1962, Gimbels-Milwaukee acquired the assets of Ed Schuster & Company. All Wisconsin Gimbels and Schuster's stores were rebranded as Gimbels-Schusters. In July 1969, the Schusters co-branding was dropped, with stores receiving Gimbels nameplates.
The RKO-Stanley-Warner Capitol Court Cinema made its debut on May 27, 1964. It was built, as a freestanding structure, in the mall's east parking area. The venue was twinned and re-opened, as the Capitol Court I & II, on November 4, 1977. It was shuttered in 1989.
By the late 1970s, CAPITOL COURT was owned by a joint venture headed by Seattle's Winmar Company. An enclosing renovation got underway in March 1977. The Capitol Plaza court area, fronting on Gimbels, was filled with a 45,000 square foot -twelve-tentant- structure. Exterior entries to stores were sealed. County Seat, Thom McAn Shoes, Florsheim Shoes, Playmakers and Casual Corner joined the retail roster.
The 7 million dollar remodeling wrapped up with a week-long grand opening celebration, which got underway on August 23, 1978. The official name of the shopping venue was changed to CAPITOL COURT MALL. The center now encompassed approximately 850,000 leasable square feet.
Unfortunately, the surrounding area was in decline. Shoppers were patronizing newer and larger malls. Soon, CAPITOL COURT was struggling. T.A. CHAPMAN closed in 1979, with its space becoming a Milwaukee-based Boston Store. Gimbels was shuttered in 1984. Target gutted and rebuilt the structure and opened the largest store in the Dairy State on October 13, 1985.
The next anchor change occurred after J.C. Penney closed their CAPITOL COURT location, in July 1986. This space was taken by Dunham's Sporting Goods. In July 1987, the Boston Store vacated the mall. The building was renovated as a new format "Sears Limited" store, which was dedicated November 15, 1989.
Sears lasted a little more than 2 years. It was shuttered in January 1992. Target pulled out of CAPITOL COURT MALL on January 31, 1996. Dunham's Sporting Goods called it quits in 1997 and Kohl's Foods (a charter tenant) closed in 1998.
The mall was left anchor-less and abandoned. Its owner, now known as Winmar Pacific, had attempted to revitalize the center twice during the 1990s. The first remodeling, done between October 1992 and July 1993, added new ceilings, floors and lighting. Mall entrances were also rebuilt. The second renovation commenced in August 1996. The vacant Target was demolished along with the old Chapman's. New retail space was constructed and new tenants courted.
However, by the dawn of the 21st century, the 44-year-old shopping mall was on its last legs. The property, which was over 70-percent vacant, was sold in February 2001. The new owner was a joint venture of Milwaukee-based Boulder Venture and the Los Angeles-based Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund.
Demolition began in the spring of 2001, with three outparcel buildings being incorporated into a new retail complex known as MIDTOWN CENTER. The venue, which would initially encompass 275,000 leasable square feet, was implemented in two phases.
The first was anchored by a 1-level (161,000 square foot) Wal-Mart SuperCenter. This store welcomed its first patrons on August 14, 2002. Inline stores included Foot Locker, One Price Clothing, PayLess ShoeSource and a 1-level (55,000 square foot) Pick 'n Save supermarket. A 1-level (134,300 square foot) Lowe's Home Improvement Center joined the fold in February 2005.
A second construction phase was announced in May 2006 and completed in the following year. Office Depot and Anna's Linens stores were added. MIDTOWN CENTER now encompassed 408,500 leasable square feet and contained forty-three tenant spaces.
The center encountered its first major hurdle on September 22, 2009, when its Lowe's store was shuttered. A plan to subdivide the vacant building into smaller big box stores was proposed but never carried out. WalMart abandoned their 13-year-old MIDTOWN store on January 28, 2016.
Over the years, MIDTOWN CENTER has changed hands twice. Its first sale, to Oakbrook, Illinois-based Inland Western Retail Real Estate, closed in February 2005. Inland sold the complex to New York City's DLC Management Corporation in April 2014.
Sources:
The Milwaukee Journal
Gary Nosacek's mall memories
"Retro Milwaukee" website / Dave's mall memories
Memories of Milwaukee's Capital Court Shopping Center " / J. Watter, Writer.com
Milwaukee Business Journal, October 22, 2004
http://www.builder.com
http://www.preservenet.cornell.edu
http://www.cinematreasures.org
FAIR USE OF CAPITOL COURT IMAGES:
The renderings from the Milwaukee Public Library illustrate a key moment in the mall's history that is described in the article. The images are of lower resolution than the originals (copies made would be of inferior quality). The images are not replaceable with free-use or public-domain images. The use of the images does not limit the copyright owners' rights to distribute the images in any way. The images are being used for non-profit, informational purposes only and their use is not believed to detract from the original images in any way.
