One of three enclosed shopping malls in Oakland, California, this advertisement from the Oakland Tribune announces the grand opening of the MacArthur/Broadway Shopping Center on September 9, 1965.
"A whole century ahead of its time... The most fantastic one-stop shopping and dining extravaganza in the entire universe!" proclaims the advertisement. The center is billed as "completely space-age in concept and philosophy."
Features included the following:
* A space ramp, an escalator for shopping carts. A concept employed today by multi-level Target stores and the IKEA in East Palo Alto.
* An Astro-Bus, a taxi service to shuttle shoppers from the mall entrance to their cars.
* Space-Port Parking... 1,100 cars fitting comfortably on the roof of the center.
MacArthur/Broadway Shopping Center, commonly called M/B Center, was a mall without a conventional department store anchor (although Woolworth's anchored the mall). After years of decline, the center was demolished in 2009. A new Kaiser Permanente hospital is rising in its place.
Visitors may fondly remember The Hamlet, essentially an early food court concept.
Enjoy!
Scott
Current aerial
View Larger Map
The Google Street View still shows the center pre-demolition. Mall entrances had been sealed by then.
3 comments:
MacArthur Broadway was the first indoor mall I never saw and we went their all the time to have dinner at the Hamlet. Because the Mayfair market was a 24 hour operation, many of the other stores there kept late hours as well.
I think the deterioration of MacArthur Boulevard, especially when it became a haven for prostitution; played a big part in the demise of M/B. You'd think that with it's proximity to the popular Piedmont Avenue district that they could have tried to tie it in more with a pedestrian bridge across Macarthur Blvd.
Ultimately though, Kaiser likely had their eyes on the site for a long time and wouldn't allow it to be redeveloped
I remember the M/B Center well and we went there the opening week. I also remember Eastmont Mall, but can't think of a third enclosed center in Oakland.
Kaiser Center Mall being the 3rd. Some people don't consider it due to its size.
Thanks!
Scott
Post a Comment