An aerial of the retail replacement for WALNUT MALL. The outparcel
strip plaza, outlined in blue, is the only remaining structure from the
circa '66 mall. Today's WALNUT CENTRE is anchored by a Food Lion
supermarket. It is part of a 4-complex grouping of shopping plazas;
WALNUT CENTRE, SOUTH CRATER SQUARE, GRAYS SHOPPING
CENTER and WALNUT PLAZA.
Original photo from www.google.com


WALNUT MALL
South Crater Road / US 301 and Walnut Boulevard
Petersburg, Virginia

The second fully-enclosed mall in the Richmond metropolis was built on a 16.9 acre tract, located 27 miles southeast of the Central Business District, in the suburb of Petersburg.

Encompassing 267,000 leasable square feet and approximately thirty-five stores and services, WALNUT MALL opened for business November 3, 1966. The single-level, community-sized center was anchored by a 1-level (67,000 square foot), Richmond-based Thalhimers and a 2-level (100,000 square foot) J.C. Penney.

Inline stores in the original mall included Peoples Drug, Rucker-Rosenstock, So-Fro Fabrics, Thom McAn Shoes, Kinney Shoes, Lerner Shops, Sandler's, Morton's Jewelers and Ward's TV and Appliance (a precursor of Circuit City).

The single-screen (850 seat) Walnut Mall Theatre opened in March 1967, in a front parking area block of stores. It was twinned in 1980, becoming the Walnut Mall I and II.

Billed as "The Shopping Showplace", WALNUT MALL prospered until the completion of SOUTHPARK MALL, in nearby Colonial Heights, in 1989. The newer, regional-class complex immediately snatched the older center's Penney's.

However, the Thalhimers location at WALNUT MALL remained open, competing with a new SOUTHPARK store, until it was permanently shuttered in May 1991. By this time, WALNUT MALL was virtually vacant. It was closed, boarded-up and sat -derelict and decaying- for fifteen years.

The first redevelopment plan, circa-1995, included plans for a new Home Depot and Kroger supermarket. This plan fell through. A second scenario proposed a new public library for the site. This never came to fruition, either.

Demolition of the mall structure commenced in August 2006, with the cinema outparcel left standing. This was incorporated into WALNUT CENTRE, an open-air strip complex, featuring a 35,000 square foot Food Lion supermarket and eleven inline stores. The new shopping venue was dedicated May 23, 2007.

Sources:

www.labelscar.com / "Caldor"
Michael Lisicky
Information from "Straywulf"
www.deadmalls.com / Comment post by Laura Willoughby
http://www.cinematreasures.com/