I would not normally urge anyone to add to crap piling up in their inboxes, but I love the new Atlantic Cities site and appreciate the regular email with a quick rundown of recent stories. Today this struck me: a dead mall has nearly as many storefront churches as it has shops.
Down the street a few blocks is a former grocery store. That grocery store sits just within the historic district zone, which makes teardown/redevlopment a little tricky for the average developer. The site itself has no historic value, but it's bound by the height and design restrictions of the rest of the area (which is a good thing). The grocery store closed down more than a decade ago--I think it was last a Grocery Outlet--and it's too small for a new chain grocery. (Also, no chain grocery really wants a small store in a generally poor non-white neighborhood). For a few years, it was a sort-of mall, with a handful of odd shops selling t-shirts and high end sneakers and music. One by one, those all disappeared. It's been vacant for at least 2 years now. And recently, it was rented by four businesses--3 of them are pet-related (dog spa, dog daycare, pet food) and a church (evangelical south american of some variety--its name translates to Jesus Is the Light of the World Church, and they have services at odd times all week long, and the women and girls all wear long, lacy head coverings.
I thought the combo was funny, and in a lot of ways a fairly good one--several shops and storefront church from a long stretch of street outside the historic district are now empty, and it's likely that a developer would love to put up a 6-story apartment building in their former single-story shops. And I found it amusing to imagine furious dog barking in the background of church services, or promoting one of those "we'll care for your pets after the Rapture" businesses to the churchies. I had no idea that these odd little churches were common enough to help fill a mall.
It used to be a Tradewell. Interesting that all CC's established congregations are selling and moving, while newer immigrant communities are finding their way to less conventional spaces like this.
Posted by: Scott | 2011.10.05 at 12:54 PM