CAPITAL CITY MALL
Hartzdale and Zimmerman (Lower Allen) Drives
Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
Plans for a Greater Harrisburg shopping mall were formally announced in November 1972. Developing the project was Johnstown, Pennsylvania's Crown Construction Company, which had just changed its name to the Crown American Corporation.
CAPITAL CITY MALL would be the eleventh shopping facility built by the firm. It would occupy a 54.9-acre plot, located 3.6 miles southwest of the Pennsylvania State House. The mall site was in a political division of Cumberland County known as Camp Hill Borough. Construction was underway by February 1973.
Consisting of a single level of retail, CAPITAL CITY MALL was anchored by a 1-level (101,500 square foot) Sears, 1-level (100,000 square foot), Harrisburg-based H.H. Bowman and 1-level (102,800 square foot), Mckeesport-based Murphy's Mart.
Sixteen stores, including Sears, opened their doors on July 29, 1974. Thirty-nine were launched during a mall-wide dedication, held on August 15th. Bowman's and Murphy's Mart were launched at this time. The fully-enclosed shopping hub now encompassed approximately 632,000 leasable square feet and contained fifty-four stores and services (there would eventually be seventy-five).
Charter tenants included Chess King, Foxmoor Casuals, Spencer Gifts, a (21,000 square foot) Rea & Derricks Drugs and freestanding (45,300 square foot) Acme Markets. The Carrol's Development Corporation Capital City Mall Cinemettes featured six-screens. It had an exterior entrance and was not connected with the mall's interior concourse.
Commercial competitors of CAPITAL CITY MALL included COLONIAL PARK CENTER (1960) {7.8 miles northeast, in Dauphin County}, HARRISBURG EAST MALL (1969) {5.5 miles northeast, also in Dauphin County} and CAMP HILL MALL {.6 miles north, in Cumberland County}, which was a circa-1959 strip center renovated into an enclosed mall in 1986.
The first anchor rebranding at CAPITAL CITY MALL involved the Bowman's store, which had closed in mid-1976. It re-opened, as an Allentown-based Hess's, on August 16, 1976. Connecticut-based Ames had completed a hostile takeover of the G.C. Murphy Company in April 1985. Murphy's Mart stores continued to operate under their original name, but were eventually shuttered. The CAPITAL CITY MALL store re-opened, under an Ames nameplate, on August 15, 1987.
Meanwhile, the mall had been expanded. The 9-bay, Garden Grove Food Court, adding 30,000 square feet to the front entrance, was dedicated on November 14, 1986. A second enlargement added 20,000 square feet to Hess's. This store had closed in anticipation of a renovation. It re-opened, as 1-level (120,000 square foot) Hecht's, on October 2, 1995. Ames, shuttered months before, was also refurbished. J.C. Penney held a grand opening on November 8, 1995.
The Crown American Corporation had been split into two entities during 1993. The first, dubbed the Crown American Realty Trust, managed the corporate portfolio of twenty-eight shopping malls. Crown American Hotels was involved in the hospitality industry.
In November 2003, the realty division was sold to the Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT). They announced a mall makeover for their CAPITAL CITY property in November 2004. The cinema, shuttered on December 19, 2004, would be reconfigured as a 12 -bay Food Court. A sit-down bistro, Garfield's Pub & Restaurant, would be included in the new culinary complex. Moreover, existing mall space would be thoroughly updated.
Inline stores, such as Spencer Gifts and FYE, would be relocated, with new Lady Foot Locker and Victoria's Secret stores brought into the mall. The relocated Food Court was dedicated in November 2005. The original facility, at the mall's Main Entrance, was gutted and rebuilt as a new Specialty Wing.
Tenants, such as Hollister Company, Wet Seal, Body Central and Forever 21, were joined by the mall's second sit-down restaurant, Davenport's Italian Oven. These businesses opened in the spring of 2006. This happened in conjunction with the conversion of Hecht's into a Macy's, which was finalized February 1 of the same year.
At the turn of the century, CAPITAL CITY MALL encompassed 682,300 leasable square feet and housed eighty-six store spaces, with nineteen kiosks. A freestanding (46,100 square foot) Toys R Us was shuttered in 2012. It was gutted and expanded, with a (50,000 square foot) Field & Stream retail store opening on October 16, 2015.
In February 2017, Sears pulled up stakes. The vacant building was demolished in March and replaced by a multi-tenant structure. This housed a 1-level (61,200 square foot) Dick's Sporting Goods, (15,000 square foot) Sears Appliance & Mattress and four other retail spaces. The Dick's unit opened for business on September 28, 2017. Dave & Buster's Grand Sports Cafe renovated a vacant drug store-Old Navy space and welcomed first patrons on October 22, 2019.
Sources:
The York Daily Record (York, Pennsylvania)
The Sentinel (Carlisle, Pennsylvania)
The Daily Item (Sunbury, Pennsylvania)
http://www.shopcapitalcity.com
http://www.preit.com (Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust)
http://www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.pennlive.com
"Capital City Mall" article on Wikipedia
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