Today's MIDTOWN CENTER, which was built on the site previously
occupied by CAPITOL COURT MALL. The open-air power center
was dedicated in late 2004.
Photo from www.loopnet.comCAPITOL COURT CENTER
West Capitol Drive and North 60th Street
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Ground was broken for Milwaukee's first shopping mall in September 1953, at a 57 acre site located 7 miles northwest of the Central Business District.
CAPITOL COURT CENTER, originally an open-air venue, was developed by Ed Schuster and Company and designed by Seattle's John Graham, Jr. . The 805,000 square foot complex was completed in August 1956 and featured sixty-nine stores and services.
The 20 million dollar shopping center was predominantly a single-level structure with a service basement / Arcade Level. It was anchored by a 3-level (135,000 square foot), Milwaukee-based Schuster's, with a 3-level (65,000 square foot), Milwaukee-based T.A. Chapman as its junior anchor.
Inline stores included a dry goods only J.C. Penney, F. W. Woolworth 5 and 10, Walgreen Drug and two supermarkets; Krambo and Kohl's. As was the case with practically every other other mall of the mid-century, CAPITOL COURT featured a "kiddie ride" amusement park and liquor store.
The typical mall merchants of the time were represented as well, including Lerner Shops, Chandler's Shoes, Fanny Farmer Candies and Singer Sewing Center. The freestanding Capitol Court Theater was added, in the east parking area, in 1964. It was eventually twinned.
Competitors of CAPITOL COURT included BAYSHORE CENTER (1954), in Milwaukee, MAYFAIR CENTER (1958) [August 2007 archive], in Wauwatosa, SOUTHRIDGE MALL (1970), in Greendale and Greenfield and NORTHRIDGE MAll (1973), in Milwaukee.
In 1962, the first anchor rebranding at the retail hub took place. The Milwaukee-based subsidiary of Gimbels bought out Ed Schuster and Company. The CAPITOL COURT location went under the Gimbels-Schusters nameplate until the 1970s, when it reverted to the original nameplate of the chain, Gimbels-Milwaukee.
An enclosing renovation got underway in March 1977. The Capitol Plaza court area, fronting on Gimbels, was filled-in with a 45,000 square foot (twelve tentant) structure and exterior entries to stores were sealed.
Existing retailers, such as Walgreen's, Kohl's Foods and Pill and Puff, were expanded into adjoining spaces and County Seat, Thom McAn Shoes, Florsheim Shoes, Playmakers and Casual Corner joined the retail roster.
The 7 million dollar project wrapped up with a week-long grand opening celebration, beginning August 23, 1978. The official name of the venue was changed to CAPITOL COURT MALL. The center now encompassed 850,000 leasable square feet and seventy-five stores and services.
Unfortunately, the surrounding area was in a state of decline. Shoppers had begun to patronize newer and larger malls in the region. Soon, CAPITOL COURT was struggling.
T.A. CHAPMAN closed in 1983, with its space becoming a Milwaukee-based Boston Store. Gimbels was shuttered in 1984. Target gutted and rebuilt the 130,000 square foot structure and opened the largest store in the state October 13, 1985.
The next anchor change occured when J.C. Penney closed their CAPITOL COURT location, in the summer of 1986. This space was taken by Dunham's Sporting Goods. In July 1987, Boston Store vacated the mall. The building was renovated as a new format "Sears Limited" store, dedicated November 15, 1989.
Sears lasted little more than two years. It was shuttered in January 1992. Target pulled out 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 anchorless and nearly abandoned.
Its owners, the Seattle-based Winmar Company, 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 upgraded, as well.
The second renovation commenced in August 1996. The vacant Schuster's / Gimbels / Target was demolished along with the old Chapman's / Boston Store / Sears. A bit of new retail space was constructed and new tenants courted, with little success. The retail "mall-o-caust" of the late 20th century was taking its toll.
At the advent of the 21st century, the forty-four year-old shopping mall was on its last legs. The property, which was over 70 percent vacant, was sold in February 2001 to a consortium of Milwaukee-based Boulder Venture and the Los Angeles-based Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund.
Demolition of the mall began in the spring, with three outparcel buildings incorporated into a new, mixed-use project, christened MIDTOWN CENTER. Construction began on the 459,000 square foot, 65 million dollar shopping venue in the spring of 2002.
The first stores opened in late 2004. Tenants included a 1-level (158,000 square foot) Wal-Mart, 116,000 square foot Lowe's and 53,000 square foot Pick 'N Save supermarket.
MIDTOWN CENTER was sold -in January 2005- to the Oakbrook, Illinois-based Inland Western Retail Trust.
Sources:
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/Fair use of "Aerial Capitol Court Shopping Center", "Schuster's Store" and "Department Store Logo" renderings in Capitol Court article: The renderings from The Milwaukee Sentinel (February 1955) illustrate a key moment in the mall's history that is described in the article. The images are not replaceable with free-use or public-domain images. The images do not limit any 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 drawings in any way.
