Old Town Mall

Old Town Mall, also written Oldtown Mall, is an outdoor pedestrian shopping district on Gay Street in Baltimore, Maryland's Old Town neighborhood. Although called a mall, it is primarily a historic urban commercial corridor rather than an enclosed shopping center. The site contains approximately 64 storefronts, most of which are closed, and its present condition reflects a long cycle of commercial growth, decline, attempted revitalization, and renewed redevelopment. The area's commercial importance predates the mall itself. Old Town and Gay Street became a retail destination after Baltimore constructed Bel Air Market in 1818. The market was intended to support the city's expanding commercial activity and helped establish the surrounding district as a busy, diverse, middle-class neighborhood. Its proximity to central Baltimore also made the area attractive to families and downtown workers. Businesses associated with the district included Isaac Benesch's Great Store, housed in a prominent building that later became associated with the mall's principal department-store anchor. The district weakened after the Second World War as families moved to the suburbs. The nearby population declined, poverty and unemployment increased, and retailers either closed or adapted to a different customer base. The Baltimore riot of 1968 became a major turning point. City officials and developers used the damaged area as the basis for a physical and commercial renewal project. Gay Street was converted into a pedestrian-only retail environment, repaved with brick, and furnished with planters, trees, street lamps, a fountain, and a clock tower bearing the mall's name. The project reportedly cost more than $1.7 million and opened in the late 1960s with substantial civic attention. The initial revival did not resolve the underlying economic problems of the neighborhood. By the 1980s, the mall had begun to resemble the less prosperous district that preceded the redevelopment. One later proposal sought to remove Bel Air Market and replace it with parking in the hope of attracting a major grocery chain, but that effort did not produce a lasting turnaround. The former Benesch building subsequently housed a 40,000-square-foot Kaufman's department store, which served as the mall's only anchor. Since 2015, the building has also been used each October by The Nevermore Haunt, a seasonal Halloween attraction. Beginning in 2016, Baltimore-area developers advanced plans to restore and reposition the district, partly taking advantage of its proximity to Johns Hopkins Hospital. The concepts have included redesigned streets and storefronts, new housing, offices, commercial space, a park, a hotel, and an upgraded community center. In 2023, plans were announced for a Lidl grocery store near the former market. The wider area is now part of the Perkins, Somerset, Oldtown Transformation Plan, commonly abbreviated PSO. That effort combines public and redevelopment funding, including support from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Housing Authority of Baltimore City. Old Town Mall therefore remains both a deteriorated retail property and a symbolic component of Baltimore's effort to reconnect the historic district with new residential, institutional, and commercial activity.

Old Town Mall developed from the historic commercial environment surrounding Gay Street and Baltimore's Old Town neighborhood. The district's modern retail history is commonly traced to the construction of Bel Air Market in 1818. As one of Baltimore's early public markets, Bel Air Market supported farmers and merchants while drawing customers to the surrounding streets. Old Town subsequently became a diverse middle-class neighborhood close to the city center, serving residents as well as downtown workers. Retail landmarks included Isaac Benesch's Great Store, whose building later became the site of a major department store associated with Old Town Mall. The neighborhood experienced a prolonged decline in the postwar period. Suburbanization drew families and shoppers away from the city, while the population living near Gay Street fell. The resulting loss of customers forced many businesses to close or adjust to lower-income local demand. The Baltimore riot of 1968 intensified the physical and economic disruption but also prompted a city-backed effort to renew the area. Developers and public officials converted Gay Street into a pedestrian shopping mall, using brick paving, landscaping, street furniture, a fountain, and a named clock tower to create a purpose-built retail environment. More than $1.7 million was spent on the project, which opened with considerable civic publicity in the late 1960s. The physical improvements did not overcome broader structural problems, especially unemployment and poverty. By the 1980s, the mall was again struggling and visually resembled the less prosperous commercial district that had existed before the renewal. Proposals to remove Bel Air Market and build parking for a potential grocery-store tenant failed to create a durable retail revival. The mall's former anchor was a 40,000-square-foot Kaufman's department store in the former Benesch building. After the department-store era, the building gained a new seasonal use when The Nevermore Haunt began operating there each October in 2015. A further redevelopment phase emerged in 2016, led by Baltimore-area developers who emphasized the location's proximity to Johns Hopkins Hospital. Proposed changes included redesigned portions of the 500 block, one-way traffic, new commercial opportunities, housing, office space, a hotel, a park, and an improved community center. In 2023, plans also identified a Lidl grocery store near the former market. These projects fit within the larger Perkins, Somerset, Oldtown Transformation Plan, which seeks to redevelop the surrounding area through a combination of housing, commercial investment, public facilities, and neighborhood infrastructure. The plan is being supported through collaboration involving the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Housing Authority of Baltimore City. As a result, Old Town Mall is best understood today as a historic but largely vacant retail corridor whose future is tied to comprehensive neighborhood redevelopment rather than to the restoration of a conventional shopping mall alone.

• 2023

  Lidl grocery-store plans are announced

  [1]Old Town Mallen.wikipedia.org

  A Lidl store was included in plans for the area near the former Bel Air Market.

• 2016

  New restoration concepts emerge

  [1]Old Town Mallen.wikipedia.org

  Developers proposed a mixed-use restoration involving housing, offices, commercial space, a park, a hotel, and a community-center upgrade.

• 2015

  The Nevermore Haunt begins seasonal operations

  [1]Old Town Mallen.wikipedia.org

  The former Kaufman's building began serving as the venue for The Nevermore Haunt each October.

• 1980

  Renewal momentum fades

  [1]Old Town Mallen.wikipedia.org

  By the 1980s, the mall had again begun to decline as poverty, unemployment, and the loss of a strong local customer base persisted.

• 1968

  Baltimore riot becomes a turning point

  [1]Old Town Mallen.wikipedia.org

  The unrest of 1968 preceded a major public and private effort to renew the damaged Gay Street commercial area.

• 1818

  Bel Air Market opens

  [1]Old Town Mallen.wikipedia.org

  Baltimore constructed Bel Air Market, helping establish Old Town and Gay Street as a significant commercial and retail district.

• Gay Street is converted into Old Town Mall

  [1]Old Town Mallen.wikipedia.org

  The street was redesigned as a pedestrian shopping mall with brick paving, landscaping, a fountain, street lamps, and a clock tower. The project cost more than $1.7 million and opened in the late 1960s.

A historic Baltimore urban shopping district and redevelopment site rather than a conventional enclosed retail mall.

• Retail district

  Old Town Mall retail storefronts

  The mall consists of storefronts along a historic pedestrian-oriented section of Gay Street. It was designed to provide a concentrated urban shopping environment, but most of the approximately 64 stores are now closed. The site is consequently functioning more as a redevelopment area and historic commercial corridor than as a fully operating retail center.

• Department store anchor

  Kaufman's department store

  Kaufman's occupied a 40,000-square-foot building formerly associated with the Benesch store. It served as Old Town Mall's only anchor tenant and represented the site's attempt to attract a conventional department-store customer base. The building no longer operates as a Kaufman's store and has since had seasonal entertainment use.

• Seasonal entertainment · 2015

  The Nevermore Haunt

  The Nevermore Haunt is a seasonal Halloween attraction that has operated in the former Kaufman's building each October since 2015. Its use gives the otherwise largely vacant anchor building a recurring entertainment function during the Halloween season.

• 2023

  Proposed Lidl grocery storeProduct launch

  Background

  Earlier efforts to attract a major grocery tenant had included removing the former Bel Air Market to create parking, without producing a successful long-term solution.

  Action taken

  Redevelopment plans announced in 2023 included a Lidl grocery store near the former market site.

  Aftermath

  The proposal positioned grocery retail as part of the area's wider neighborhood redevelopment, but the cited material does not establish an opening date or completed construction.

  Source

• 2016

  Mixed-use restoration proposalStrategy

  Background

  The mall remained largely vacant, but its proximity to Johns Hopkins Hospital was viewed as a potential basis for renewed investment.

  Action taken

  Developers proposed new housing, offices, commercial space, a park, a hotel, updated community facilities, and street changes including one-way traffic on part of the mall.

  Aftermath

  The proposal became part of the broader redevelopment discussion for Old Town and the Perkins, Somerset, Oldtown area.

  Source

• 1968

  Conversion of Gay Street into a pedestrian mallStrategy

  Background

  After the Baltimore riot of 1968, city officials and developers sought to revitalize the damaged Old Town commercial district and restore retail activity.

  Action taken

  Gay Street was repaved with brick and redesigned as a pedestrian shopping mall with planters, trees, street lamps, a fountain, and a clock tower. The project cost more than $1.7 million.

  Aftermath

  The redesign opened with substantial civic attention, but the area's persistent unemployment, poverty, and population loss contributed to renewed decline by the 1980s.

  Redevelopment cost. $1.7 million (Late 1960s project)

  Source

• 2023

  Lidl grocery store proposed near the former Bel Air Market site[1]Old Town Mallen.wikipedia.org

  Product launch · Other

  Redevelopment plans announced in 2023 included a Lidl grocery store near the location of the former Bel Air Market, addressing the area's long-standing lack of a major grocery anchor.

• 2016

  Developers advance plans to restore Old Town Mall[1]Old Town Mallen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Baltimore-area developers put forward concepts for restoring the mall and surrounding district, including new housing, offices, commercial space, a park, a hotel, and improvements to the community center.

• 2015

  The Nevermore Haunt begins operating in the former Kaufman's building[1]Old Town Mallen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The former department-store building at Old Town Mall began hosting The Nevermore Haunt as a seasonal Halloween attraction each October.

1. 1Old Town Mallen.wikipedia.org