WOODMAR CENTER
Indianapolis Boulevard and East 165th Street
Hammond, Indiana

One of the earliest regional shopping centers in Chicago's Indiana suburbs was developed by Herbert Heyman and Howard Landau, who were based in the Windy City.

WOODMAR CENTER, situated on 19.7 acres, 1 mile south of downtown Hammond, was anchored by a 2-level (65,000 square foot), Chicago-based Carson Pirie Scott. The store, which was the chain's third branch location, opened November 1, 1954.

Eight stores in the adjacent, single-level strip center were dedicated May 19, 1955, with the full complement of twenty-two stores and services in operation by the end of the year. The 3 million dollar complex encompassed 200,000 leasable square feet.

Charter tenants included Kinney Shoes, Lerner Shops, Maternity Modes and Benson-Rixon Men's Wear. There were also a National Foods supermarket and J.J. Newberry 5 and 10.

The center's first commercial competion came along eleven years later. DIXIE SQUARE MALL [January 2008 archive] held its grand opening in August 1966. This fully-enclosed shopping venue was situated 9.6 miles northwest, in Harvey, Illinois. RIVER OAKS CENTER, an open-air complex located 3.6 miles west, in Calumet City, Illinois, was dedicated in October 1966.

As a keeping up measure, WOODMAR CENTER had embarked on a renovation in late 1965. The open-canopied storefronts had glass-enclosed walkways installed and the Carson's store was expanded, to 110,000 square feet, with a connecting mall entrance and third level.

The newly-enclosed shopping center, now known as WOODMAR MALL, was dedicated in March 1966, with the remodeled Carson's being completed in June.

A subsequent renovation, in 1975, turned the recently-vacated Newberry's (on the north end of the structure) into a 12-store, mini-mall...the Court of Lions.

Three years later, the old supermarket spot (on the mall's south end) was remade into an 8-store "mall within a mall"...the Court of Turtles. New stores included So Fro Fabrics and Foxmoor Casuals.

A prospective expansion of the WOODMAR property, into a 3-anchor, 750,000 square foot retail hub, was abandoned due to the sour, late '70s economy.

A smaller enlargement, built onto the southeast corner in 1982, added five inline stores. This area, and the lunch counter portion of Walgreen Drug, became the 6-bay Woodmar Cafe Food Court in 1985. WOODMAR MALL now encompassed 275,000 leasable square feet and fifty-two stores and services.

The location of the mall, in a largely industrial area, contributed to its decline, along with the closing of several steel plants in the vacinity, which took its toll on the local economy. A new Wal-Mart and supermarket, built on adjoining property to the west of WOODMAR, was the final nail in its coffin.

By the early 1990s, the mall was housing too many vacant spaces. By the end of the decade, its owner, the Woodmar Liability Corporation, was bankrupt. The center was acquired by a Denver-based insurance company, but continued its decline.

A group of California-based investors bought the past its prime property in February 2003, with a redevelopment announced in May. Unfortunately, the project never got off the ground.

The twelve remaining tenants complained about the center's leaking roofs, overflowing sewers and pot-holed parking lot. The mall's management was around only when rents were due.

Northbrook, Illinois-based Praedium Development came on the scene in 2005, with a plan to demolish all of the shopping center, save for Carson's.

The plan was to build a new 127,000 square foot strip center, and 2-level (100,000 square foot) Carson's, and then raze the original Carson's and pave its area as a parking lot. Demolition of the mall structure got underway in February 2006.

A snag was encountered when Saks Incorporated sold the Carson's chain to York, Pennsylvania-based Bon Ton Stores in March 2006. At present, it is unclear whether or not Bon Ton will go ahead with plans for the new Carson's location at a reconfigured WOODMAR. This has apparently delayed construction of the new shopping complex

Sources:

http://www.geocities.com/Jaloweplays/woodmar.html / John Arthur Lowe
www.hammonindiana.com
www.labelscar.com
www.praediumdevelopment.com