Chapel Square Mall
The Chapel Square Mall was a shopping mall in downtown New Haven, Connecticut. It was one of the first fully enclosed air-conditioned downtown malls in the United States; it has now been converted into apartments.
Pre-construction and development
Originally proposed as part of the Church Street Redevelopment Project in 1957, after many plans and alterations, it opened in the 1960s. The mall was designed by New York architects Lathrop Douglas, with two levels and. It was anchored by two adjacent department stores: the New Haven-based Edw. Malley Co., , and a large branch of New York City-based, Macy's,. Both were built at earlier stages in the development.Renovations and decline
Despite ongoing criticism of the ravages of urban renewal, in particular the effects it had on New Haven, the mall was successful in stemming some of downtown's earlier retail decline. In fact, from the mid-1960s through to the mid-1980s, when nearby Westfield [Connecticut Post] mall was greatly expanded, downtown New Haven remained the dominant regional retail draw. However, like similar projects of that era, it began to show signs of needing an update and a renovation, starting in the early 1980s.In 1984, after Malley's closed, Chapel Square Mall and the office tower were sold to Baltimore-based The Rouse Company to revitalize the mall.
Rouse renovated Chapel Square by 1986, adding some new nationally known shops, a branch of the upmarket Conran's home goods chain, and a large second-level food court that overlooked the New Haven Green. The improvements, however, did not save the mall. They were short lived as a dramatic downturn in the economy, and Rouse failed to find a replacement tenant for the failed Edw. Malley Co. location.
The corporate bankruptcy and resulting closure of the R.H. Macy & Co. store and demise of the Conran's chain in 1993 took an immediate toll on the mall's viability. In 1995, management of the mall went to the New Haven Chamber of Commerce.