Heavy construction along Central Avenue, in August 1973. Shopping at any stores that remained in business along the Avenue had become quite treacherous. Longtime downtown merchants, such as The Joy Shop, John Ross Company and S.S. Kresge, had gone bust by this time.
Photo from the George C. Crout Collection, courtesy of the Middletown Public Library

A sign, at the future southeast (Verity Parkway) mall entrance, proclaims Middletown's up-and-coming Urban Renewal project.
Photo from the George C. Crout Collection, courtesy of the Middletown Public Library

A  computer-generated rendering of the northwest (Main Street) entrance of MIDDLETOWN MALL. Opened in December 1974, this "center city-saving" retail facility would never live up to expectations held in the late 1960s and early '70s.