Boston Road / US 20 and Fernbank Road
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
The first fully-enclosed shopping center in Western Massachusetts was built by Maryland's James Rouse Company, under the auspices of its Community Research & Development subsidiary. EASTFIELD MALL was developed on a 43.6-acre site, located 5 miles northeast of center city Springfield.
The single-level complex, designed by Grand Rapids' Daverman & Associates, was officially dedicated on April 1, 1968. Two anchor department stores opened on this day; a 2-level (121,000 square foot), Springfield-based Forbes & Wallace and 2-level (201,000 square foot) Sears. Forty-four inline stores also held grand openings.
On August 1, 1968, a 2-level (117,000 square foot), Springfield-based Albert Steiger Company welcomed its first patrons. By this time, the mall contained sixty-four tenant spaces. Some of its charter stores and services were Peerless Company, Chess King, Anderson-Little, Thom McAn Shoes, Mall Barber Shop, Baker's Shoes, a Friendly's Ice Cream, Music City Record Store and Flaming Pit Steakhouse.
The General Cinema Corporation Eastfield Cinema showed its first feature December 25, 1968. With its completion, EASTFIELD MALL encompassed approximately 656,000 leasable square feet.
Retail rivals in the Pioneer Valley included BAYSTATE WEST (1970) {a center city Springfield Urban Renewal project}, FAIRFIELD MALL (1974) {4.8 miles northwest, in Chicopee ["chik-uh-pee"]} and HOLYOKE ["hohl-ee-ohk"] MALL (1979) {7.8 miles northwest, in Holyoke}.
Anchor rebrandings commenced with the shuttering of the mall's Forbes & Wallace store, which transpired on August 7, 1976. The vacant space was taken by J.C. Penney, who held their grand opening on August 10, 1977.
Meanwhile, the mall's movie theater had re-opened, as the Eastfield 1 & 2, in October 1976. The theater was shuttered in late 1985. In January 1986, construction commenced on a 2.5 million dollar renovation. 90,000 square feet of the southeast corner of the mall, including the vacant cinema, was gutted and extended. This area was rebuilt as the 10-bay Market Shed Food Court, which was completed in October 1986.
A second anchor conversion involved the Albert Steiger Company, which closed on March 12, 1994. The EASTFIELD MALL location was one of six Steiger's stores sold to May Department Stores, of St. Louis. The building was remodeled and re-opened, as a Boston-based Filene's, on November 9, 1994.
Clifton, New Jersey's Mountain Development Corporation acquired EASTFIELD MALL in April 1998. Soon after, plans were announced for a revitalization, which was to include the addition of the Showcase Cinemas Eastfield Mall 16. Construction got underway in March 1999 with the megaplex cinema opening for business on August 22 of the same year. The mall now enveloped approximately 824,000 leasable square feet.
The most recent nameplate changes at EASTFIELD MALL involve Filene's, which was "Macy-ated" September 9, 2006, and the Showcase Cinemas, which became the Rave Eastfield 16 in April 2010 and the Cinemark Eastfield Mall 16 in November 2012. The mall's J.C. Penney was demoted to an Outlet Store August 10, 2005 and was shuttered in August 2011.
In early 2015, three major inline stores shut down; Radio Shack, Deb Shops and American Eagle Outfitters. The vacant Penney's was leased as a 1-level Spirit Halloween on an intermittent basis. Macy's pulled the proverbial plug on their EASTFIELD store in April 2016, leaving only Sears to sustain the shopping hub. This 50-year-old store would close for good in late 2018.
Mountain Development had drawn up plans to demall the EASTFIELD complex. Inline store space would be demolished, leaving three anchor structures, and the multiplex cinema, standing. The new EASTFIELD COMMONS would include retail and residential components; these presented in an "Old Timey Downtown" motif.
On March 17, 2020, the Cinemark multiplex shut down as a precaution against the Covid-19 pandemic . In June, it was announced that the theater would not re-open. In March 2023, The past its prime property was sold to a joint venture of Onyx Partners, Limited and Atlantic Retail; both headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts.
The mall closed for good on June 15, 2023. Demolition commenced in August. A 360,000 square foot, open-air shopping complex was being built. The first stores in SPRINGFIELD CROSSING were scheduled to open in the spring of 2025.
Sources:
The Springfield Republican
http://caldorrainbowblogspot.com / Nicholas DiMaio webmaster
http://www.eastfieldmall.com
http://www.therousecompany.com (Website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
Hampden County, Massachusetts Register of Deeds Records Access Site
http://www.eastfieldmall.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
Western Massachusetts Movie Theaters and Drive-Ins / Mike Rivest
www.masslive.com
https://atlanticretail.com
https://onyxpartnersltd.com
