Memories of Southwyck Mall

First a little history: Southwyck Mall opened on South Reynolds Road in Toledo in 1972. It's anchor stores over the years included Lamson's, Lion for the Home, Dillard's, and Montgomery Ward. Southwyck was a very popular mall in its day. A movie theater multiplex of seven, and later ten screens was located on the East Side of the mall. A failing economy wore away at the mall's success during the early years of the new century. By June of 2008 Southwyck Mall closed after 36 years of business. Demolition began about a year later and was completed November 1, 2009. The vacant mall was demolished at the urging of Toledo City officials who believed a potential buyer would be more interested in land that had already been cleared.

My first experience with Southwyck dates back to 1980. I was attending a boarding school on the outskirts of Toledo. On most Sundays a van or bus, depending on how many students were interested, would board and we could spend from 1:00 P.M. to 5:30 P.M. at the mall. You could also ride your bike there, but after doing that one time I decided the cars and trucks on Reynolds Road would squash me if I tried again.

One of the features that existed in 1980 was called "Old Towne". Old Towne had an old-fashioned theme and included numerous small shops and arcade games. Not many video games at this time, but I think they had a Pong game along with Asteroids and Space Invaders. Most of the arcade games were more along the line of Pinball machines and the ones you would grip a handle to test your strength or romance level. One of the machines had you put a penny in this slot and it would deform it and print Old Towne on it for a quarter. I also recall some skeeball machines.

Besides Old Towne, there was the seven-screen cinema. I remember seeing several movies there, but sneaking into the R-rated Blue Lagoon stands out in my mind. After I left the boarding school I took dates to a few different movies in the same complex. Some of these movies included Porky's, Snow White, and Amadeus to name a few. After Old Towne closed up, the theater added three more screens.

The very center of the mall had a clear dome over it. There was a large area underneath it with a fountain, and a place large enough for Santa Clause to set up shop every Christmas season.

In the middle of the 1980's I took a hiatus from working in fast food and got a sales job at the Radio Shack in Southwyck Mall. I would say I spent more time at Radio Shack than anywhere else in the mall as a result. On my lunch breaks I got to explore the eateries. Everything was good, but I had a soft spot for the Orange Julius, and the Bagel shop.

Starting in 1992 I lived far away enough from Toledo to have far fewer visits to Southwyck. I am very saddened to see it demolished after only 36 years. This was the second place I worked at that has been completely demolished. The previously mentioned boarding school that introduced me to Southwyck Mall was itself demolished around 2000.

Christmas at Southwyck will be one of the most missed experiences. Southwyck always had very festive decorations and when you saw Santa's long lines of eager children, some crying and some thrilled, you would catch the Christmas spirit. The hustle and bustle of shoppers and the Christmas cheer in the air is something that was very special at Southwyck. If you visited Southwyck during Christmas you would leave with more Christmas cheer than when you arrived, even if you purchased nothing. The holiday mood was infectious. It is sad that future generations will not get to experience the joys of shopping at Southwyck Mall.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwyck_Mall