More on "Mega Mall" from Brian White

Someone forwarded me a link to the post on the Mega Mall. Having been involved, I feel compelled to weigh in, for what it is worth.

It seems to me that when the news was announced by the city about locating the fire station at the Mega Mall, Alderman Moore was surprised. He called the fire department brass out to tell him what they were doing. There was a public meeting at which the alderman basically demanded to be allowed into the conversation.

RPCAN was working at that time to organize store owners in and out of the mall. The focus was really Clark Street merchants. The director at the time is now working at CAEELLI on the north side, where he continues to organize workers and communities. I met with him personally to discuss what their goals were about and I'm not sure I would say they were seizing an opportunity willy-nilly. I think there was a vision, but the fact of the matter is that RPCAN was a mess at that time and the Mega Mall campaign was one of the last major pushes mounted by the group. Later, the group worked on Save the Lakefront (before Urbs in Horto and all that), but it was in decline quickly after Mega Mall because the members got rid of the director. Some would say he was pushed out, but who knows.

I recall that RPCAN and Forum49 both endorsed a plan, formally propsoed by Forum49, to relocate the merchants into the supermarket north of the mall so the fire station could be built. The store was vacant until negotiations commenced on acquiring the Mega Mall for the fire station. DevCorp had also reminded people that the Mega Mall was an incubator, so Forum49 also said the eggs should be hatched into other spaces, more or less. True, rents in the storefronts were less than the per square foot in the Mall. This could have included other store fronts, many of which were vacant. Some of them still are, like under the train stations and along stretches of Clark and Howard.

It was unusual that Forum49 and RPCAN were in favor of the same plan. The powers that be dismissed the ideas, but it seems to me they were pretty practical. I spent some time in the Mall as part of that process, since I was on the steering committee of Forum49. I recall it was a lot of inexpensive clothing, luggage, jewelry, and basic services, like a hair salon and food stand. It was not Old Orchard, but it was not as bad as many people made it out to be. I bought some socks.

It's too bad the plan proposed by Forum49 could not have been followed. The fire station would have gone in where the Mega Mall is now and grocery store would have remained a commercial space attached to the other spaces at the north end of the block. The store did not last, eventually making way for the station.

Anyway, the document from Forum49 is probably still online, in case anyone wants to see it. I may even have a copy somewhere, as might Jim Kepler or Jeanne Stiles, both of whom are still in the community. It's too bad Forum49 is not still around. That group was useful for engaging in some good discussions and debates about things like this.

Cheers
Brian