CLOVERLEAF MALL
Midlothian Turnpike / US 60 and Chippenham ParkwayChesterfield County, Virginia
News of a "huge mall-type center" for Richmond's western suburbs was first reported in May 1966. In June 1969, Chesterfield County officials granted a zoning change for an 85.7-acre portion of property, which was part of the Gresham Nursery & Garden Center. The land parcel was located 6.5 miles southwest of center city Richmond, in an unincorporated section of Chesterfield County known as Manchester.
Construction got underway on March 9, 1971. A fully-enclosed mall of approximately 600,000 leasable square feet was being developed by a joint venture of the Leonard L. Farber Company (of Pompano Beach, Florida) and Arlen Shopping Centers, Incorporated (of New York City). The architects on the project were the Carneal & Johnson firm of Richmond.
CLOVERLEAF MALL was named after an adjacent interchange where the Midlothian Turnpike (US Route 60) and Chippenham Parkway intersected. Oddly enough, at the time of the mall's completion, the two roads met at-grade with a traffic signal. A cloverleaf-type junction was proposed but would not be completed until 1978.
The Phase I shopping hub was officially dedicated on August 16, 1972. A 2-level (179,200 square foot) Sears held its grand opening at this time. Among forty-four charter stores were Harmony Hut Records, Bresler's 33 Flavors Ice Cream, Stuarts ladies-ready-to-wear, Vacar Barber Shop, The Stag Shoppes men's wear, Piccadilly Cafeteria, Waldenbooks, a (13,000 square foot) Peoples Drug, (14,800 square foot) McCrory 5 & 10 and District Theatres Cloverleaf Mall Cinemas I & II.
A Phase II section of the mall was officially dedicated on August 1, 1973. Thalhimers' 1-level (63,000 square foot) store was inaugurated along with sixteen inline stores. These included Bathique, Greentree's, K & K Toys, Mortimer's, Size 5-7-9 Shop and Ups 'N Downs. CLOVERLEAF MALL now encompassed approximately 760,000 leasable square feet and featured sixty-seven stores and services. It was promoted as "The Fashion Center of Richmond."
Regional-class rivals soon appeared. REGENCY SQUARE MALL {7.2 miles northwest, in Henrico ["hen-riy-ko"] County} opened in 1975. Although not a large-scale shopping center at first, CHESTERFIELD TOWNE CENTER (1975) {4.2 miles northwest, in Chesterfield County} was to eventually expand to over one million leasable square feet.
The Plitt Theatres Cloverleaf Mall Cinema 8, a freestanding multiplex, was built at the southwest corner of the site. This venue showed its first features on March 31, 1982. An interior and exterior face lift of the shopping center got underway in February 1987. During the remodeling, the original twin-plex cinema was shuttered and rebuilt into the 8-bay Take A Break Food Court.
The only anchor store rebranding in the history of CLOVERLEAF MALL took place on January 23, 1992, when the Thalhimers chain (which had been acquired by May Department Stores) was merged with Arlington, Virginia-based Hecht's. By this time, the CLOVERLEAF location had been expanded into a 2-level (126,000 square foot) store.
CLOVERLEAF MALL was beginning to decline by 1996, when a brutal double murder occurred at the shopping center. Some locals also feel that the image of the mall was hurt by the proliferation of unruly teenagers who began to frequent the complex, scaring off droves of shoppers in the process. To dispel the mall's negative image, a second face lift was performed in 1998.
This renovation failed to reverse the downward spiral. J.C. Penney became the first anchor store to close down, in October 2000. The 8-plex cinema was shuttered in October 2001. Sears, which had been downsized into a 1-level operation, closed in January 2003. Hecht's followed in July. The final nail in the proverbial coffin was driven in 2003, with the dedication of STONY POINT FASHION PARK {4.1 miles northwest, in Richmond}, a lifestyle-format complex.
In the ensuing years, redevelopment plans for the the anchor-less and abandoned CLOVERLEAF MALL came and went. One of the more noteworthy transpired in 2004, when Richmond-based Faith Alive Ministries offered to buy the mall and convert it into a mega church complex. The powers that be of Chesterfield County balked at this offer. Some opined that a church-based development, producing no tax revenues, would not be lucrative. In the end, the county itself bought the property.
Two different developers were enlisted to assist in remaking the mall, all to no avail. A third company, Charlotte-based Crosland Investments, came on the scene in January 2007. Crosland proposed a mixed-use project, anchored by a (123,600 square foot) Kroger Marketplace. Tentatively known as CHIPPENHAM PLACE, it was to include 400,000 square feet of retail, office spaces and residential units.
On February 29, 2008, CLOVERLEAF MALL closed for good. In October, STONEBRIDGE MARKETPLACE was adopted as the official name of the complex-to-be. The Great Recession resulted in progress on the project being delayed during 2009 and 2010. CLOVERLEAF MALL sat decrepit and decaying, as proposed demolition dates came and went.
Demolition finally got underway in October 2011, leaving only the Firestone Car Care (nee' Penney's Auto Center) and Bank of America outparcels standing. Construction of STONEBRIDGE MARKETPLACE Phase 1, which included Kroger, soon began. This store opened for business on December 5, 2012.
The first tenants in the second segment of Phase 1 opened in the fall of 2013. Included were Sweet Frog Premium Frozen Yogurt, Qdoba Mexican Grill, ABC Liquors, Great Clips and Subway. The first 600 units in the Element at Stonebridge "upscale apartment" complex, were completed in August 2014.
Sources:
The Richmond Times-Dispatch
The Richmond Times-Dispatch
The Chesterfield Observer (Midlothian, Virginia(
http://www.richmond.com
http://mallmanac.blogspot.com
http://www.labelscar.com
Michael Lisicky
http://www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.cinematour.com
http://www.chesterfield.gov
http://stonebridgerichmond.com
FAIR USE OF CLOVERLEAF MALL IMAGE:
The image from The Chesterfield Observer illustrates a key moment in the mall's history that is described in the article. The image is of lower resolution than the originals(copies made would be of inferior quality). The image is not replaceable with a free-use or public-domain image. The use of the image does not limit the copyright owners' rights to distribute it in any way. The image is being used for non-profit, informational purposes only and its use is not believed to detract from the original image in any way.
http://mallmanac.blogspot.com
http://www.labelscar.com
Michael Lisicky
http://www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.cinematour.com
http://www.chesterfield.gov
http://stonebridgerichmond.com
FAIR USE OF CLOVERLEAF MALL IMAGE:
The image from The Chesterfield Observer illustrates a key moment in the mall's history that is described in the article. The image is of lower resolution than the originals(copies made would be of inferior quality). The image is not replaceable with a free-use or public-domain image. The use of the image does not limit the copyright owners' rights to distribute it in any way. The image is being used for non-profit, informational purposes only and its use is not believed to detract from the original image in any way.
