Macon and Rigdon Roads
Columbus, Georgia
The Peach State's second fully-enclosed shopping center was developed by West Point, Georgia-based Batson-Cook. The single-level complex was built on a 42-acre site, located 2 miles northeast of the center city.
Thirty-seven stores and services were officially dedicated on March 25, 1965. In its original configuration, COLUMBUS SQUARE covered approximately 440,000 leasable square feet. There was free parking for 3,000 autos. Two department stores anchored the mall. A 1-level (100,000 square foot) J.C. Penney opened as part of the March 1965 grand opening. A 2-level (189,000 square foot) Sears welcomed its first shoppers on September 28, 1966.
Charter inline stores included Walgreen Drug, Matthews of Columbus Square, Katz Home Fashions, Thom McAn Shoes, Schwobilt Clothes, Kiralfy's ladies' wear, Record City, a Colonial Stores supermarket and F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10 (with Harvest House Coffee Shop). The single-screen Martin Theatres Beverly Theater was located inside the mall and was also dedicated in March 1965.
By 1975, PEACHTREE MALL was under construction on a site 2 miles north of COLUMBUS SQUARE. As a competitive measure, the older mall was given its only physical expansion, which added a 1-level (73,000 square foot) Columbus-based Kirven's and twenty inline stores.
Included in the new East Wing were Schonburg's, Ed Jenkins, Merit TV, Hallmark Cards, GNC and the Funtown Junction video arcade. A grand opening for the addition was held on July 17, 1976. COLUMBUS SQUARE now spanned approximately 560,000 leasable square feet, with ninety-nine tenant spaces.
The in-mall Beverly Theater was replaced with a freestanding cinematic venue. Built as a southeastern outparcel, the Martin Theatres Columbus Square Twin showed its first features on July 10, 1975. It was expanded into the Columbus Square 4 in the late '70s and Columbus Square 8 in 1982. The theater was shuttered in August 2005.
Anchor store rebranding cycles, seen in most malls of the mid-20th century, never happened at COLUMBUS SQUARE. Its department stores simply closed, one by one, and never re-opened. Kirven's became the first anchor to pull up stakes, in early 1993. Penney's moved to a new store, in an expanded PEACHTREE MALL, in November 1994. COLUMBUS SQUARE languished for over 12 years. The complex was shuttered in May 2001 and demolished, save for Sears, in January 2002.
Columbus / Muscogee County had purchased the faltering shopping mall in May 2000. After demolishing the structure, a new Public Library was built on the site, which was formally dedicated January 3, 2005.
Sears, the only remnant of the mall left standing, remained in business until the store relocated to the new COLUMBUS PARK CROSSING power center {4.6 miles north}, in April 2003. The vacant Sears and abandoned cinema were demolished in January 2008.
Sources:
The Columbus Ledger
The Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus, Georgia)
https://www.city-data.com / "Columbus Square Memories" / January 2015
http://www.angelfire.com / "Going, Going, Gone-Columbus" / Mike Dudley
www.georgiaretailmemories.blogspot.com / "J.T" webmaster
http://movie-theatre.org
Muscogee County, Georgia tax assessor website
"Columbus Square" article on Wikipedia
