Walt Whitman and Detroit Roads
Suffolk County (Town of Huntington), New York
The story of the first fully-enclosed shopping mall in Greater New York City begins in April 1954. A local newspaper made mention of a prospective shopping center of 400,000 square feet; this to be built near Long Island's historic Walt Whitman Birthplace.
In May 1956, Manhattan's Abraham & Straus department store chain acquired a 55-acre site. It was located 35.6 miles east of Times Square, in Suffolk County's Town of Huntington. A plan was announced -for a fifty-four store, open-air mall- in March 1960. This would feature a 3-level Abraham & Straus at its center.
Soon after, R.H. Macy & Company acquired 13 acres adjacent to the A & S tract. The plan was amended to accommodate both Abraham & Straus and Macy's anchor stores; one at each end of a prospective mall. The Manhattan-based Winston-Muss Corporation bought both land parcels and assumed development. An official groundbreaking was held on April 20, 1961. The firm of Welton Becket & Associates designed the basic retail hub.
In the middle of construction, it was decided to enclose the complex. The Copeland, Novak & Isreal firm configured its climate-controlled shopping concourse. This 1,200-foot-long "Serpentine Mall" featured a Japanese Garden designed by Keneji and Domoto. It was festooned with four modern art mobiles created by Bogon Grom. These were titled "Sky," "Dandelions," "Leaves of Grass" and "Flight."
The first operational WALT WHITMAN CENTER store, a 3-level (220,000 square foot) Abraham & Straus, was dedicated March 26, 1962. The 3-level (230,000 square foot) Macy's held its grand opening September 18 of the same year.
A mall-wide grand opening was held November 23, 1962. Cutting the ceremonial ribbon were Mrs. Robert Wagner (wife of the Mayor of New York City) and Norman Winston and David Muss (of Winston-Muss). Music was provided by the Walt Whitman Grand Opening Band, under the direction of Buddy Martin. The dedication festivities culminated with the arrival of Santa Claus, who was flown in via helicopter.
Sixty-five stores commenced operation. These included Lerner Shops, Harwyn Florsheim Shoes, The Teen Man, Crown Drug, Flagg Brothers Shoes, a Horn & Hardart restaurant and (29,000 square foot) Hills Super Saving Center grocery. The mall's (68,000 square foot) J.G. McCrory 5 & 10 held its own dedication ceremony, with celebrities such as Julie Newmar and Rudy Vallee in attendance.
The Century's Whitman Theatre showed its first feature May 28, 1963. By this time, the full complement of seventy-five stores was in business. WALT WHITMAN CENTER, which encompassed 890,000 leasable square feet, was one of the largest fully-enclosed shopping centers in the United States.
Regional-class rivals eventually included MID-ISLAND SHOPPING PLAZA (1956) {6.9 miles southwest, in Nassau County}, SOUTH SHORE MALL (1963) {9.9 miles southeast, in Suffolk County} and SMITH HAVEN MALL (1969) {14.7 miles northeast, also in Suffolk County}.
By the early 1970s, the shopping venue was officially known as WALT WHITMAN MALL. It was acquired by New York City-based Corporate Property Investors in 1976. The physical structure was not changed appreciably during the 1970s and 1980s. However, there were interior face lifts, a fourth floor addition to Abraham & Straus (increasing its floor area to 302,700 square feet) and repairs done following a November 1984 fire.
A second blaze roared through the McCrory 5 & 10 in May 1991, resulting in two fatalities and severe damage to the store. It was permanently shuttered in the aftermath. A major upgrade and renovation of the mall was proposed in 1997, which was to include double-decking the main concourse, for an expanded gross leasable area of over 1.2 million square feet. However, fierce community opposition caused the project to be abandoned.
In September 1998, the real estate portfolio of Corporate Property Investors was acquired by the Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group. A scaled-down renovation of the mall (sans the second retail level) had been undertaken by CPI and was completed by Simon over the next 2 years. During this 85 million dollar refurbishment, marble flooring, vaulted ceilings and a glass-domed Center Court were installed.
Abraham & Straus, shuttered on April 30, 1995, re-opened as a Macy's in November 1996. The store had been given a 21 million dollar overhaul. The original Macy's on the mall's south end was shuttered. It was renovated and re-opened, as a Bloomingdale's, in August 1998. A 2-level (120,000 square foot) Lord & Taylor and multilevel parking garage were added to the north end of the mall. Lord & Taylor welcomed its first customers in November 1998.
The vacant McCrory store was demolished. A short mall concourse was constructed, which contained twelve new retail spaces. This new East Wing led into a 2-level (100,000 square foot) Saks Fifth Avenue, that was dedicated in March 1999. With its completion, WALT WHITMAN MALL spanned 1,035,000 leasable square feet and housed eighty-eight tenant spaces. Stores added as part of the remodeling included Daniel Leather, Williams-Sonoma, DKNY and Tourneau Watch Gear.
Plans for a large-scale renovation of the shopping venue, similar to those that had been thwarted by community opposition in 1997, were revived in 2004. This project was to include the construction of a second retail level, encompassing 200,000 square feet. Forty inline stores were to be added, along with a bi-level parking structure along the west-facing front of the mall.
The Great Recession, and community opposition, halted this expansion. However, in July 2011, the Simon Property Group put forth a prospectus for a smaller-scale remodeling. This would eschew the proposed second level and west side parking garage in favor of an open-air Streetscape of new retail and restaurant space.
Construction on the 2-level addition commenced in April 2012 and was completed in November 2013. It added 72,000 leasable square feet to the First Level and 30,000 square feet in a small Second Level. Pottery Barn, Brooks Brothers and The Gap-Gap Kids relocated from the interior of the mall to the new Streetscape.
New stores included West Elm, Brio Tuscan Grille, Zinburger Wine & Burger Bar, Urban Outfitters, Le Creuset, Carhartt and P.F. Chang's China Bistro. As a facet of the renovation, WALT WHITMAN MALL was renamed WALT WHITMAN SHOPS. The mall lost one of its four anchor stores when Lord & Taylor pulled up stakes. The luxury retailer closed for good on December 29, 2020.
Sources:
The New York Times
The Long Islander (Greenlawn, New York)
The Long Island Business News (Ronkonkoma, New York)
"Abraham & Straus: It's Worth a Trip from Anywhere" / Michael Lisicky
http://www.fultonhistory.com / Old Fulton NY Post Cards By Tom Tryniski
http://www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.labelscar.com
http://www.simon.com / Simon Property Group
http://www.huntingtonpatch.com
"Abraham & Straus: It's Worth a Trip from Anywhere" / Michael Lisicky
http://www.fultonhistory.com / Old Fulton NY Post Cards By Tom Tryniski
http://www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.labelscar.com
http://www.simon.com / Simon Property Group
http://www.huntingtonpatch.com
