Is it time to rethink the role of Uniontown Mall?
In the past eighteen months, we have witnessed several major store closings at the Uniontown Mall. This has made many wonder about the Mall’s overall future, considering the trend of mall closures throughout the country. I believe it is time to rethink the role of malls and the use of their space, particularly in our community.
Rather than try for more “anchor stores” to replace the closures, I envision something rather different. There have been rumors of the casino moving into some of the space (the former Sears store would be large enough, with expansion into the adjacent vacant areas if needed, keeping this enterprise in a separate wing of the mall) and this started me thinking about other potential ventures.
The mall already has a multiplex cinema, so adding other forms of entertainment only seems logical. With shopping trends changing, people still need to go out for many other pursuits.
The goal would be to create a place that individuals and families could congregate for a variety of activities regardless of season or weather. We need to encourage people to be more active, starting with the art of mall walking.
There is already ample parking and a number of separate entrances. It would truly be a shame for our community not to move with the times and make the most of this potential resource.
The large vacant spaces could be used for such popular offerings as a skate park (where Burlington was), an indoor mini-golf course (in the main Bon-ton space), an arcade (in some of the Dunham display areas), bumper cars or go-carts (in the main Dunham’s space), a WiFi space for interactive gaming, and maybe bowling in the former Bon-ton Kid’s store. The remaining commercial space would benefit from people coming into the mall for entertainment or walking and some of the smaller unoccupied spaces would logically become home to new food vendors.
For what it’s worth, that is my vision. Why not consider it?
B. Wilhelm
Uniontown