K mall

The Kalamazoo Mall

In 1834, when Kalamazoo was first platted, Burdick Street was one of three main roads cutting north to south through the village—and it was only four blocks long. Those four blocks evolved from a village street, to a bustling shopping district, and are now a unique retail corridor. Designed as an open-air parkway with trees, fountains, benches, and a decorative walkway, the Burdick Mall opened in 1959 and was the first outdoor pedestrian mall in the United States. In the 1990s, a movement began to reopen the Mall to traffic, along with a “Save Our Mall” campaign to keep it pedestrian. Even though citizens voted to open the Mall back up to traffic in 1998, we still call it “The Mall,” and it remains as the most noticeable legacy of Victor Gruen’s vision in the city. 

To read more, visit:

https://kalamazoomuseum.org/images/museon/2009-Summer-MuseON-jumptojapan.pdf

Kalamazoo Direct to You - Highlights
  1. Checker Cab
  2. Smelting Pot
  3. Gibson Guitars
  4. Homer Stryker and his Revolutionary Bed
  5. Upjohn's Pills
  6. A. M. Todd
  7. People of the Three Fires
  8. The General Store
  9. New Settlers to Kalamazoo: The Importance of the General Store
  10. Something for Everyone at the General Store
  11. The Finer Things in Life: Saving for the General Store
  12. Hub of Information: The General Store
  13. 1848 General Store Ledger
  14. Farm Life 1860-1940
  15. Entertainment 1860-1920
  16. "Wash Day"
  17. Food Preparation 1870-1930
  18. Squirrel Tailed Pumper
  19. The Kalamazoo Mall
  20. Victor Gruen: The Man with a Plan
  21. Dreams We Shared
  22. The 1980 Kalamazoo Tornado
  23. Lincoln's Speech
  24. Mystery of the Mummy