Broad River Road / US 176 and Dutch Square Boulevard
Richland County (Columbia), South Carolina
McALISTER SQUARE, the first fully-enclosed mall in the Palmetto State, was dedicated in March 1968. South Carolina's second major enclosed shopping center held its grand opening on August 4, 1970.
DUTCH SQUARE was built on 56 acres, located 4 miles northwest of the South Carolina State House. The site was near an interchange of Interstates 20 and 26. At the time of the mall's completion, its was located in Saint Andrews, an unincorporated section of Richland County. The single-level complex was developed by a joint venture of the Greenville-based Caine Company and Columbia-based Cotter & Company. It was designed by Lafaye, Lafaye & Associates and Pearlstine-Anderson Architects.
DUTCH SQUARE encompassed approximately 510,000 leasable square feet. It was anchored by a 2-level (135,600 square foot), Augusta, Georgia-based- J.B. White, 1-level (60,000 square foot), Columbia-based Tapp's and 1-level (103,000 square foot) Woolco discount mart.
A freestanding Convenience Center, which housed an A & P supermarket, predated the mall by 2 years. The grocery store was shuttered in March 1998. A second outparcel, the Irvin-Filler Dutch Square Ultra-Vision Theatre North & South, had commenced operation on February 15, 1973. The venue re-opened as a 4-plex in May 1983 and was shuttered in late 1997. It was eventually replaced by a Ruby Tuesday restaurant.
The original competitor of DUTCH SQUARE was RICHLAND MALL {5.7 miles southeast, in Columbia}, which had been dedicated in 1961. It was renovated into RICHLAND FASHION MALL between 1987 and 1990. COLUMBIA PLACE {8.5 miles northeast, in Columbia}, was dedicated in 1977. COLUMBIANA CENTRE {4 miles northwest, in Richland County} opened for business in 1990.
The White's store at DUTCH SQUARE was expanded to 4 levels in the mid-1980s. A third floor was devoted to retail, with a fourth housing offices and an advertising department. The expanded store encompassed 203,400 square feet.
In June of 1988, DUTCH SQUARE was sold to Columbia-based Edens & Avant, Incorporated. They envisaged a major expansion of the complex, which would add a second retail level and two anchor stores; these being Atlanta-based Rich's and Richmond-based Miller & Rhoads. Within a few years, these plans had been abandoned.
By the early 1990s, the mall was in a downward spiral that had begun with the loss of its Woolco, in January 1983. In 1993, Edens & Avant defaulted on their mall loan. The decline of the mall was exacerbated by the closing of its Tapp's store, in late 1995.
A joint venture of Cincinnati-based Phillips Edison & Company and the Newport Beach, California-based Koll Company purchased the struggling shopping center in late 1995. In April 1996, a 12 million dollar renovation was announced. During the project, the complex was given an interior face lift and new entrances were built. The complex was renamed DUTCH SQUARE CENTER as part of this renovation.
The Woolco building was divided and leased as two separate stores. An (84,000 square foot), New Jersey-based, Burlington Coat Factory opened in December 1996, followed by a (30,000 square foot), Florida-based Office Depot.
The vacant Tapp's was razed. Its replacement, the General Cinema Corporation Dutch Square 14, showed its first features on December 19, 1997. The new movie house brought 18,000 additional leasable square feet under the roof of the mall, which now encompassed approximately 595,400.
DUTCH SQUARE CENTER had been annexed into the city limits of Columbia in 1997. In August 1998, J.B. White was dissolved as a result of the Mercantile Stores-Dillard's merger. The DUTCH SQUARE store was sold to Charlotte-based Belk, who re-opened the location, under the Belk-Simpson banner, in April 1999.
The building was given a 3 million dollar renovation in mid-2000, was downsized to 2 floors in June 2009, and received a bona fide Belk brand in 2011. It was shuttered in January 2015. In January 2017, the New York City-based Nassimi Realty, Limited Liability Company acquired DUTCH SQUARE CENTER.
At the time, the mall had twenty vacant store spaces out of a total of fifty-four. Planet Fitness, a mall tenant since 2013, moved from a 12,800 square foot space into one encompassing 25,000. Carved out of the first floor of the Belk building, the new fitness facility held its grand opening in April 2018. The Dutch Square 14 was shuttered on August 21, 2022. The venue re-opened, as the Bow Tie Management Dutch Square Cinema 14, on September 1, 2022.
DUTCH SQUARE was built on 56 acres, located 4 miles northwest of the South Carolina State House. The site was near an interchange of Interstates 20 and 26. At the time of the mall's completion, its was located in Saint Andrews, an unincorporated section of Richland County. The single-level complex was developed by a joint venture of the Greenville-based Caine Company and Columbia-based Cotter & Company. It was designed by Lafaye, Lafaye & Associates and Pearlstine-Anderson Architects.
DUTCH SQUARE encompassed approximately 510,000 leasable square feet. It was anchored by a 2-level (135,600 square foot), Augusta, Georgia-based- J.B. White, 1-level (60,000 square foot), Columbia-based Tapp's and 1-level (103,000 square foot) Woolco discount mart.
A freestanding Convenience Center, which housed an A & P supermarket, predated the mall by 2 years. The grocery store was shuttered in March 1998. A second outparcel, the Irvin-Filler Dutch Square Ultra-Vision Theatre North & South, had commenced operation on February 15, 1973. The venue re-opened as a 4-plex in May 1983 and was shuttered in late 1997. It was eventually replaced by a Ruby Tuesday restaurant.
The original competitor of DUTCH SQUARE was RICHLAND MALL {5.7 miles southeast, in Columbia}, which had been dedicated in 1961. It was renovated into RICHLAND FASHION MALL between 1987 and 1990. COLUMBIA PLACE {8.5 miles northeast, in Columbia}, was dedicated in 1977. COLUMBIANA CENTRE {4 miles northwest, in Richland County} opened for business in 1990.
The White's store at DUTCH SQUARE was expanded to 4 levels in the mid-1980s. A third floor was devoted to retail, with a fourth housing offices and an advertising department. The expanded store encompassed 203,400 square feet.
In June of 1988, DUTCH SQUARE was sold to Columbia-based Edens & Avant, Incorporated. They envisaged a major expansion of the complex, which would add a second retail level and two anchor stores; these being Atlanta-based Rich's and Richmond-based Miller & Rhoads. Within a few years, these plans had been abandoned.
By the early 1990s, the mall was in a downward spiral that had begun with the loss of its Woolco, in January 1983. In 1993, Edens & Avant defaulted on their mall loan. The decline of the mall was exacerbated by the closing of its Tapp's store, in late 1995.
A joint venture of Cincinnati-based Phillips Edison & Company and the Newport Beach, California-based Koll Company purchased the struggling shopping center in late 1995. In April 1996, a 12 million dollar renovation was announced. During the project, the complex was given an interior face lift and new entrances were built. The complex was renamed DUTCH SQUARE CENTER as part of this renovation.
The Woolco building was divided and leased as two separate stores. An (84,000 square foot), New Jersey-based, Burlington Coat Factory opened in December 1996, followed by a (30,000 square foot), Florida-based Office Depot.
The vacant Tapp's was razed. Its replacement, the General Cinema Corporation Dutch Square 14, showed its first features on December 19, 1997. The new movie house brought 18,000 additional leasable square feet under the roof of the mall, which now encompassed approximately 595,400.
DUTCH SQUARE CENTER had been annexed into the city limits of Columbia in 1997. In August 1998, J.B. White was dissolved as a result of the Mercantile Stores-Dillard's merger. The DUTCH SQUARE store was sold to Charlotte-based Belk, who re-opened the location, under the Belk-Simpson banner, in April 1999.
The building was given a 3 million dollar renovation in mid-2000, was downsized to 2 floors in June 2009, and received a bona fide Belk brand in 2011. It was shuttered in January 2015. In January 2017, the New York City-based Nassimi Realty, Limited Liability Company acquired DUTCH SQUARE CENTER.
At the time, the mall had twenty vacant store spaces out of a total of fifty-four. Planet Fitness, a mall tenant since 2013, moved from a 12,800 square foot space into one encompassing 25,000. Carved out of the first floor of the Belk building, the new fitness facility held its grand opening in April 2018. The Dutch Square 14 was shuttered on August 21, 2022. The venue re-opened, as the Bow Tie Management Dutch Square Cinema 14, on September 1, 2022.
Sources:
The State (Columbia, South Carolina)
The State (Columbia, South Carolina)
The Gamecock (Columbia, South Carolina)
The Greenville News
http://www.dutchsquare.com
The Greenville News
http://www.dutchsquare.com
http://www.movie-theatre.org / Mike Rivest
Richland County, South Carolina Tax Assessor website
http://cinematreasures.org
"Dutch Square Mall" article on Wikipedia
"Belk" article on Wikipedia
FAIR USE OF DUTCH SQUARE IMAGES:
"Dutch Square Mall" article on Wikipedia
"Belk" article on Wikipedia
FAIR USE OF DUTCH SQUARE IMAGES:
The photos from the Richland County Public Library illustrate a key moment in the mall's history that is described in the article. The images are of lower resolution than the originals (copies made would be of inferior quality). The images are not replaceable with free-use or public-domain images. The use of the images does not limit the 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 images in any way.
