"Construction of a major new shopping center, the largest to date in the Oneonta area, will get underway this spring in Oneonta's fast-growing East End."
This was the big story of the day in The Oneonta Star on Friday, Feb. 18, 1972, as officials of the Syracuse-based Pyramid Investors Corp. said the day before that they would build a fully enclosed, air-conditioned shopping mall. Many will remember this as the Pyramid Mall, today's FoxCare Center.
The East End was considered fast-growing because Jamesway had built a discount department store in the nearby area in 1962 and The Oneonta Plaza, which housed a Grant's, Victory Market and Carl's Drug Store, had opened in 1966.
Plans called for the mall to have "anchor" stores, including an 80,000-square-foot department store and a 22,000-square-foot grocery chain store, with several other small stores between them. No specific names were revealed at the time.
Construction got under way once the wintery weather subsided in May. Finishing touches on the enclosed mall were being made in early October.
A large display ad appeared in The Star on Monday, Oct. 2, that read, "The new kid comes to Oneonta! White Modell Grand Opening, Tuesday, Oct. 17."
A news article about a week later told how White Modell would employ nearly 300 people and estimated the local payroll at about $250,000 per year, depending on sales.
"Also occupying the Pyramid Mall," the article explained, "will be Loblaws supermarket, Fay's Drugs, an assortment of smaller shops, and branches of the Oneonta Savings and Loan Association and Mechanics Exchange bank." The latter was in an outside building, now a branch of Community Bank. Parking was available at the mall for 692 cars.
Other original tenants at the mall's opening Oct. 17 were Brandow's Barber Shop, Ardy's Snack Bar, Quality Cleaners, Barbara Briggs Beauty Shop, The Oneonta General Store, Coddington Florist and Friar Tuck Book Store.
According to The Star of Wednesday, Oct. 18, "The mall opened at 9:30 Tuesday morning with a series of brief speeches by Pyramid and White Modell executives."
"County Representative Richard Schlee, of Oneonta, cut the ribbon and shoppers waiting at the door since 9 a.m. poured into the mall."
"By the end of the day, White Modell officials estimated nearly 12,000 shoppers visited their store, and indicated throughout the sales throughout the day were good."
As many shoppers may recall, The Star described the mall ceiling having skylights and the interior sides painted in green, blue and yellow pastels.
The mall had a good run of success, but things began to fade around 1983, when the Southside Mall opened. In addition to the White Modell anchor department store at the Pyramid Mall, others included King's, Barker's and Nichols, with the latter closing in 1990.
Only a drug store and barber shop remained in the mall when it closed for the final time Oct. 31, 1993.
The Pyramid Mall sat vacant for just over a year, until Bettiol Enterprises confirmed in the closing days of December 1994 that it had purchased the property. It hadn't been decided what would be done with the property.
It was announced Friday, June 28, 1996, that A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital had agreed to purchase the former mall for $1.5 million and had $4.5 million in plans for renovations to expand its outpatient services.
"(We are) excited and happy about this move," Fox President John R. Remillard said. "This new facility will position Fox to provide health care for the future," noting an increasing shift away from hospital inpatient care.
Renovations began and by Monday, Aug. 4, 1997, the Outpatient Service Center opened in the new facility. A grand opening was set for Saturday, Sept. 6.
This weekend: Time and time again during the 19th century, a series of Otsego and Delaware county towns wanted to form a new county, called Susquehanna County.
City Historian Mark Simonson's column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or email him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com. His columns can be found at www.thedailystar.com/marksimonson.
Columns
Oneonta's first shopping mall, Pyramid Mall, opened in 1972
- Big Chuck D'Imperio
- Cary Brunswick
-
-
Some wisdom is best passed down through books
I was visiting a friend out-of-town recently and the subject of providing a "reading list" to young people came up in conversation. He said years ago he had asked a respected acquaintance in Oneonta to compile such a list for his teenage daughter, to help her be better prepared for life, culture, education, politics and people.
Continued ... - Let pragmatism, not politics, determine birth control debate
- As Center Street Elementary goes, so goes Center City
- U.S. intervention in Syria's uprising would be a gamble
- Santorum, Obama both got it wrong on Honduras
-
- Chuck Pinkey
- Guest Column
-
-
If we don’t develop a sustainable system, who will?
In Otsego County’s local elections last fall, a number of candidates — most of them on the independent Sustainable Otsego line — ran on an anti-fracking, pro-sustainability platform. They recognized that our current way of life — dependent on increasingly scarce, costly and polluting fossil fuels — cannot continue.
Continued ... - Time to get off the bus and on the computer
- Cuomo's Machiavellian maneuvers are a danger
- Home rule laws aren't a radical idea
- Sustainable shouldn't be a dirty word
-
If we don’t develop a sustainable system, who will?
- Lisa Miller
-
-
Being a parent is a constant learning process
I am sitting cross-legged on the floor in the dressing room, waiting for Allie's dance number to be called. The cave girl costume has been donned, the jazz shoes double-tied, the hair pulled back, the requisite dab of lipstick applied.
Continued ... - Healthy doesn't have to mean expensive
- A family era ends with close of Potter series
- Independent stores make up for loss of Borders
- Untethered from the cable box
-
Being a parent is a constant learning process
- Mark Simonson
-
-
Perfect attendance by Saturday’s Bread for 20 years in Oneonta
Oneonta became a settlement and has been a place to do one's "trading," whether it was the 18th century, or 2012, because of the five valleys that converge here. Only the places of doing the "trading" have changed a bit over the last 100 years, and Oneonta remains a place that attracts visitors and has always been a decent place to live and work.
Continued ...
100 Years Ago - Recalling the Hindenburg, John D. Rockefeller in May 1937
- Oneonta residents had diversions aplenty in the spring of 1952
- Damaschke essential to ensuring Oneonta baseball in 1927
- Area tunes to WONT in November 1972
-
Perfect attendance by Saturday’s Bread for 20 years in Oneonta
- Rick Brockway
-
-
Climbing is one thing, but skydiving?
OUTDOORS COLUMN BY RICK BROCKWAY ... Last week, my friend George and I returned to the Gunks for another rock-climbing adventure. After last week's column, I asked about the rattlesnakes and was told not to worry. Rattlers are usually quite timid and will avoid people as much as possible. It's the copperheads that'll give you trouble. They're aggressive and will stand their ground to defend it. Oh great!!
- Rattlesnakes may be closer than you think, so pay attention
- Spring is here, so fishing should pick up soon
- Sneaky fox may be the next animal looking to horse around
- Pass down the rush of turkey hunting to your kids this weekend
-
Climbing is one thing, but skydiving?
- Sam Pollak
-
-
I'm happy with our kids to a certain degree
It was several years ago, and I was in the kitchen, telling my eldest daughter and my then-teenaged son about the person who was taking over as publisher at The Daily Star.
Continued ... - I get by with a little help from my 'friends'
- It’s not easy for a politics junkie to get off the stuff
- The Encyclopaedia Britannica in print, unmourned by me
- Angelo Dundee was always a good man to have in your corner
-
- William Masters
-
-
Time for lawmakers who put needs of society first
Richard Lugar, after six terms as a Republican senator -- known for his middle of the road rationality and his foreign policy finesse -- has been ousted by a Tea Party extremist backed by outside right-wing funding.
-
War not worth gambling with lives of soldiers
Are you not tired of our war in Afghanistan? It had a point, once, after 9/11. Bush couldn't distinguish his myopic personal agendas from the nation's needs and let Osama escape, dropping the ball entirely, causing many deaths.
-
Titanic was a microcosm of U.S. economic disparity
Haunting reminders of the Titanic tragedy have wafted over us with the centenary of its sinking. The maiden voyage of an impressive, state of the art vessel, was a little like that of the Challenger space shuttle, at the cutting edge of developing technology. But the shuttle carried our pride in science and space exploration, not hundreds and hundreds of people.
-
William Masters: Nation stands divided between 'us' and 'them'
In February, Trayvon Martin was shot dead as "suspicious" by a volunteer neighborhood watch man. The case has aroused community reaction in Sanford, Fla., and is still echoing across the country.
-
A quarterback can't win the game alone
What is the relationship between democracy and wealth? Democracy is a political system, while wealth relates to economics. We have equal political rights, but we don't all have money. Extreme differences destroy the continuity of community solidarity.
-
Time for lawmakers who put needs of society first
