The following aerial photos show the area that was cleared for the redevelopment project that ultimately brought Kmart to downtown Maplewood. Though it may have been necessary for the revenue it provided, for us fans of historic buildings it’s hard to look at these and not want to turn back the hands of time.
I also remember the whole Kmart fiasco. As Tom said, shoppers really couldn’t see Kmart from Manchester. Golde’s Department Store fire was a major loss to the local businesses, and prior to that there were several fires which I have been reading about in the various local newspapers of the day. Kennedy Music needed to move at various times due to fires — in fact I have a picture of one of the buildings after it burned. I’m remembering something about a piano falling to the ground from the 2nd floor after the fire! I am so personally glad Maplewood is experiencing a ‘rebirth’ these days.
Tom, thanks very much for this information. I always appreciate your comments.
The redevelopment resulted in that doubly ill-advised two level garage. In the first place, it was difficult to see from the street level that there was a Kmart at the top. Once when I went for a walk in the early evening, as I was just past the Citizens Bank, a car pulled up and the lady in the passengers seat said, ” Can you tell us where the Kmart is”. I swear, that is a true story.
Secondly, the construction of the garage was faulty. The horizontal beams rested on Teflon pads on the vertical posts. The connections were supposed to be lightly bolted to allow for a sliding movement on the Teflon as the structure expanded and contracted with the heat of the day. The bolts were mistakenly pulled up so tight that the movement began to deform the vertical posts. The post in the Southeast corner near the bank was visibly twisted. A “fix” was installed using cross connectors between the top of one post and the bottom of the adjacent post. It didn’t work.
Kmart left and the building was dark and vacant for years.