Page 12 - BusinessWest July 24, 2023

EDITORIAL >>
Rest in Peace, Eastfield Mall
The Eastfield Mall has officially passed into history. And this passing certainly prompts some reflection — on what has been and what is to come at the sprawling site on Wilbraham Road.
As for what has been ... well, the mall was some- thing of a marvel when it opened back in 1968. This region hadn’t seen anything quite like it. The indoor mall was new and totally captivating.
Someone could park the car once and go shopping, get a meal at one of several restaurants (including the famous Flaming Pit), get a haircut, watch a movie, take a walk, do some people watching ... all of that and more.
Before Eastfield, people went downtown to shop, be it in Springfield, Holyoke, Westfield, Chicopee, Amherst, or Northampton, visiting a host of different stores and buildings as they did so. This was a com- pletely different kind of experience, and the mall drew people from all across the region.
Eastfield ceased being a wonder in relatively short order. Other malls, which collectively doomed the region’s downtowns, save for Northampton’s (and even it struggled until the early ’80s) were built in downtown Springfield (Tower Square, then known
as Baystate West, was a center for retail), Chicopee, Hadley, and Holyoke. It was the Holyoke Mall, which was much bigger and featured many more stores, that pushed Eastfield to second-tier status.
Still, Eastfield persevered on the strength of its anchors and an eclectic mix of national and local stores and remained a destination.
Until ... the retail world started to change dramati- cally, especially with the advent of online shopping.
OPINION >>
One by one, the anchors, including Sears and JCPen- ney, disappeared from Eastfield — and many other sites as well. Then, the theaters closed, and some of the smaller shops did as well. While other malls found new uses for their retail spaces — everything from trampoline parks to bowling alleys — Eastfield strug- gled to do so.
Eventually, its massive, all-but-empty parking lot became a symbol of a changing retail landscape.
For years, there has been talk about what will come next at the site — a 21st-century facility that will be mixed-use, blending a residential component with retail, hospitality, and support businesses. Work on demolition will begin soon, and construction on what is expected to be a $65 million to $85 million facility will commence soon after.
Meanwhile, most of the 40 or so businesses and nonprofits that were in the mall have found new homes. Many have relocated to other sites in Spring- field, but others have put down roots in surround- ing communities, including Wilbraham, Ludlow, and Holyoke.
This is a developing story, and an intriguing chapter in the Eastfield story, one in which the businesses that gave the mall its character and charm will live on.
As for the mall itself, it will live on in memories. Like old ballparks, malls (most of them anyway) can’t become something else. They have to be destroyed because their useful life is over.
This was a sad but predictable, and inevitable, end for what had been, and still is in some ways, a landmark.
Rest in peace, Eastfield Mall. BW
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JULY 24, 2023
<< OPINION >>
BusinessWest
Mural Sparks History to Life
While it might be considered dangerous to get into a discussion concerning the quality and relative merits of a particular piece of art, when it comes to the new mural taking shape at the former Skyplex building off Stearns Square in down- town Springfield (see story on page 32), we’ll make an exception.
This is an intriguing and masterful work (and it’s not even done yet) that celebrates the city, its history, its personalities, its landmarks ... all of that.
But it does more than that. It activates a space, and it gets people talking. Overall, it takes a nonde- script wall on an underutilized building and turns it into a conversation piece and part of a larger effort to bring more vibrancy to that part, and other parts, of Springfield.
It’s a small piece, but an important piece nonetheless.
If there’s anything to complain about with the mural, it’s that there’s too much going on. The entire wall is covered, and with many, if not most, of the ‘characters,’ one needs to ask, ‘who’s that?’ and ‘why is that person on this wall?’
That’s true of Abraham Lincoln and Muhammed Ali (you know who they are), but also Ted Shawn, the dancer and choreographer who created Jacob’s Pillow in Becket (and lived in Springfield for a time), and also June Foray, a Springfield native who became the voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel, among other notable characters. You might not know who they are.
That’s the beauty of this mural. People get to take in something creative and learn about a city and its his- tory at the same time.
It takes quite some time to take in the entirety of this mural, and another one like it just around the cor- ner on Worthington Street, one that recreates advertis- ing images put on the wall of a former camera store more than 50 years ago. But it’s worth taking the time, because these works tell a story, and they really do link the past, present, and future.
And at the same time, they bring new life to build- ings, and an area, that needed a spark.
It is said that art can be captivating, powerful, and, yes, inspirational. This mural is a good example of how it can be all that and more. BW