Comments on: The Lamest Corner of Cherry Creek

By: Christian Mannhood

Christian Mannhood — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 05:24:49 +0000

Oh, yeah, here’s the link:

http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/soc/shoppingcenter.html

Built in 1953, it was like the third of fourth of it’s kind in the US. There should be like a plaque commemorating this.

By: Christian Mannhood

Christian Mannhood — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 05:03:34 +0000

Here’s a blurb about it:
1953 Cherry Creek Shopping Center in Denver opened, planned by architect Temple Buell since 1946, under construction since 1950, anchored by Denver Dry Goods on one side of First Avenue and in 1954 by Buell’s metal-trimmed Sears Roebuck store on the other side of First Avenue.

By: James

James — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:43:20 +0000

Thanks very much for that historical information and insight. I had no idea that this little square and the buildings surrounding it were that old. (I moved here in ’93.)

They’ve been remodeled and updated, so I figured they were tertiary stand alones constructed in more recent years.

Even with the new tenants, what’s wrong with windows? Less shelf space I guess…

Thanks again for the comment – all the best – James…

By: Colorado Native

Colorado Native — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 19:24:18 +0000

This is the saddest result of developer stupidity I’ve seen. Everytime I see it I almost cry for what we lost in the name of improvements. Being a Denver old timer, I remember when this was THE Cherry Creek Mall, designed in a super modern fashion (which is now the rage of Mid Century Modern style.) You would park your car in the surrounding lots and most of the stores had entrance doors but the main doors faced on this lovely park area. If I haven’t lost all my marbles, I think there were lots of benches and flowers. Bed Bath and Beyond use to be a large department store with glorious huge windows facing on the park and a large entrance there that encouraged people to drift back and forth between it and the mall. On the far opposite end was a restaurant with lots of outdoor seating in summer and large windows looking over the green-space in winter. I can’t remember all the other little stores that were there but some elegant dress shops and snazzy shoe shops were favorites.

Then in the bust cycle of the late 70s and early 80s, this type of mall fell out of fashion. What stores filled the space wanted a bigger presences on the street. For a long time they couldn’t even find tenets for the back part where CostPlus and Macys are.

When the boom times finally returned to Denver, they built the monstrosity of the “new” Cherry Creek Mall and this one was left as an ugly step-sister.

When Flatirons Crossing made such a splash with the Village,its “special” outdoor mall area, I hoped someone with vision would do the same thing for this area of Cherry Creek and return it to its former beauty.

I’ve been to malls like the original Cherry Creek mall where they survived, like Phoenix and Los Angeles, and they are so much more inviting. And this was just like that not that long ago.

By: Claire Walter

Claire Walter — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:46:29 +0000

Murals might help. In SW Colorado, trompe d’oiel (sp?) murals grace blank downtown walls in towns like Delta and Durango. That would be best. But barring that kind of budget these days, a design contest for local artists or school kids might work. No additional retail staff then required.