CINDERELLA CITY
South Santa Fe Drive / US 85 and West Hampden Avenue / US 285
Englewood, Colorado
Greater Denver's tenth shopping mall had a rocky start and was plagued by problems over most of its 30-year existence. The venue was envisaged, by Denver mall maven Gerri von Frellick, as a new concept, Victorian-style shopping center. In August 1960, a site south of the Denver City-County line (and near the city of Englewood) was selected. The wheeling and dealing that would be necessary in order to build the shopping center was put in motion.
Von Frellick's proposal was met with friction from various political entities and citizen's groups, all steadfastly opposed to the project. 5 years of bitterly-fought litigation followed, which was finally resolved in July 1965.
By this time, an alternate location for the prospective mall had been agreed upon, which was 8.6 miles south of Colorado's Capitol and 1.3 miles west of the aforementioned site. The newly-selected, 70-acre tract had been a landfill and was presently serving as the Englewood City Park. Von Frellick had purchased the property in May of 1964.
Ground was broken for the "New Englewood Shopping Center" in March 1966. The fully-enclosed complex was designed by its developer, with additional work by James H. Johnson, Crowther, Kruse, Landlin & Associates, James Sudler Associates and other architects. It was built in an M-shaped configuration, with five counterparts being the Gold Mall, Rose Mall, Shamrock Mall and Sunflower Mall.
These converged on a 2-level center atrium, or Blue Mall, which featured a 35-foot-high fountain. In all, the mall encompassed 3 levels. The Lower Level and Main Level had retail stores, restaurants and parking facilities. A Mezzanine Level, overlooking the Blue Mall, had 120,000 square feet of leased office space.
The first phase of the shopping hub, now known as CINDERELLA CITY ENGLEWOOD, featured 107 inline stores. The 1,350,000 square foot facility was dedicated on March 7, 1968. The auspicious event, hailed as an "Alice In Wonderland come true," was attended by a crowd of over 3,000. Two mall anchors were dedicated as part of the March 7 grand opening; a 3-level (206,800 square foot) J.C. Penney and 3-level (45,900 square foot), Denver-based Neusteters.
"Grand Opening II", held on July 25, 1968, heralded the opening of an additional thirty-five stores, including a 3-level (151,000 square foot) Denver Dry Goods. The 50 million dollar CINDERELLA CITY mall now housed 141 stores and services. Charter tenants included Gano-Downs apparel, McDonald Fashions, Stuarts Ready-To-Wear For Ladies, Flagg Brothers Shoes, Radio Shack, Randall's Formal Wear and 2-level (64,800 square foot) F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10. A 2-level (108,200 square foot), Denver-based Joslins made its debut on September 19, 1968.
The General Cinema Corporation Englewood Cinema was located at the west end of the mall. This venue opened for business on March 7, 1968. It was renamed Cinderella City Cinema in November 1968. The theater was divided and re-opened, as the Cinderella City Cinema I & II, on June 5, 1975. It was shuttered and demolished in 1983. The in-mall cinema was joined by a nearby outdoor venue on July 13, 1973. The Cinderella Twin 2 Drive-In was located .2 of a mile west of CINDERELLA CITY, in the city of Sheridan.
Prime competitors of CINDERELLA CITY were SOUTHGLENN MALL (1974) {4.4 miles southeast, in Arapahoe County} and SOUTHWEST PLAZA (1982) {5.7 miles southwest, in Jefferson County}.
Moreover, a shuttered Neusteters and twin cinema were torn down. These were replaced by a 3-level (127,000 square foot), Phoenix-based Broadway Southwest. The store, dedicated on November 5, 1985, was rebranded, as a Denver-based May D & F, in 1987 and Houston-based Foley's in 1993. In the interim, Denver Dry Goods ("The Denver") had closed in April 1987. It re-opened as a Montgomery Ward Specialty Store late in the year.
The worsening structural problems at CINDERELLA CITY did not help the situation. Its anchor stores began closing. The first was Foley's, which shut down in January 1994. J.C. Penney went dark in May, with Joslins shutting its doors for good in October 1994. Montgomery Ward, which was the mall's final operational store, closed its doors in December 1997.
On August 18, 1998, former Englewood mayor, Elmer Schwab, who had presided at the mall's grand opening 30 years before, was joined by a small group of onlookers as a wrecking ball began demolishing the shopping center. A portion of a parking structure and the Foley's store were worked into a new mixed-use project.
A 1-level (134,900 square foot) Wal-Mart opened for business on September 20, 2000. There were also 300,000 square feet of offices, 450 apartment units and a Civic Center and Library complex (in the old Foley's). In July 2000, the shopping facility became rail transit accessible. Revenue service commenced on the 8.7 route mile Southwest Corridor RTD Light Rail extension.
Sources:
http://www.mallhistorycom / Joshua Goldstein, webmaster
"The Tragic Fall of A Magic Mall - A Cinderella City History" / The Cinderella City Project / Brick Immortar
http://www.englewoodgov.org
http://www.rtd-denver.com
https://www.cinematreasures.org
FAIR USE OF CINDERELLA CITY IMAGES:
The photos from the City of Englewood / Englewood 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 a free-use or public-domain images. The use of the images does not limit the copyright owners' rights to distribute them 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.
