Severance Town Center

Severance Town Center, formerly Severance Center was a two-level shopping mall 7.6 miles (12.3 km) west of downtown Cleveland, Ohio, between Mayfield Road and South Taylor Road in Cleveland Heights, a suburb of Cleveland. The mall had two active anchors which were two of which were both housed by Dillard's.
== Mall History ==
Severance Center opened its doors to the public on October 17, 1963 and was the first enclosed shopping mall in the state of Ohio. It's original anchors were a 3-level Higbee's and a 2-level Halle's. There was also a basement lower level in the mall which included a bowling alley and five office suites. A Convenience Wing extended from the lower level, toward the northwest. It housed a Fisher Foods, Diamond's Deli, liquor store and three additional tenant spaces. Within 5 months of opening, the mall housed 74 stores and services which included tenants such as Gray Drug, Hot Shoppes Cafeteria, Winkelman's, Milgrim's, Richman Brothers, Sirloin & Saddle Restaurant, and Woolworth's. There was also a movie theater opened inside the mall on March 10, 1965. Throughout the 60's and 70's, more and more shopping centers opened around the Cleveland area like Richmond Town Square in Richmond Heights, Randall Park Mall in North Randall, and Beachwood Place in Beachwood. Severance Center received a face lift renovation in 1972. The complex was physically expanded in 1981 with a new Southwest Wing which added a third anchor, Gold Circle, however, would close just 3 years later in 1984 but quickly taken over and the space was enlarged by Dunham's Sports. Another renovation was completed in 1986 which was worth $20 million which led to a 14-bay Galaxy Food Court and a 6-screen movie theater being added to the mall.
== Decline ==
During the 1980's, the mall was becoming a haven for violent crime. In a move to combat crime, Cleveland Heights City Hall, jail and court complex relocated to the northwest corner of the mall. In 1986, the mall was renamed from Severance Center to Severance Town Center since the City Hall moved to the mall. Halle's closed their store in 1982 due to bankruptcy and was left vacant up until 1989 when the space became Horne's. In 1992, Horne's closed down as well as Higbee's. The both anchor spaces were both converted into Dillard's stores the same year. In 1995, Dillard's closed both of their mall locations. The mall was then becoming more and more empty as the mall had a bad reputation for crime.
== Conversion to Power Center ==
In 1995, after Dillard's closed, there was plans to convert the Severance Town Center Mall into an outdoor shopping center and demolishing the enclosed portion of the mall. The plans came to light in 1996 when the enclosed portion was completely demolished and converted the former mall into a power center. The Home Depot opened in the former Horne's space in 1998 and Walmart moved into the former Higbee's space a year later in 1999. In 2000, more tenants had opened such as Marshalls, Borders, Tops Friendly Markets, and the movie theater was expanded into a 14-screen Regal Cinema. Within a few years, a new lifestyle center opened not far in Lyndhurst which was Legacy Village.
== Second Decline ==
Severance Town Center began to decline once again in 2013 when a major tenant had left the complex. Due to the crime in the area getting worse and worse, Walmart relocated out of the shopping center and moved to South Euclid to a new Supercenter building. The Regal Cinemas closed down 2 years later in 2015. By this time, the shopping center was 40 percent vacant, because of that, the complex was foreclosed on and sold at a sheriff's auction in November 2015. In July 2017, a tentative redevelopment plan came to light. It would reinvent the struggling retail facility in three phases, over a period of 15 to 20 years, and add amenities such as an arts center, public park and several entertainment venues.
Category:Malls in the United States
Category:Malls in Ohio
Category:Dead Malls
Category:Malls that opened in 1963
Category:Halle’s
Category:Cleveland Area Malls
Category:Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Category:Former Higbee's-anchored Malls
Category:Former Dillard's-anchored Malls
Category:Former Malls