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Aurora Village probably in the 1970s
View of the west and south sides from Aurora
Photo courtesy History's Dumpster |
Reprinted with permission
AURORA VILLAGE CENTER
Aurora Ave N and N 205th St
King County (Shoreline), Washington
Greater Seattle's AURORA VILLAGE CENTER was developed by the Continental West Company.
The shopping hub occupied 35 acres, located 13.9 miles north of the center city. The site, then in unincorporated King County, was adjacent to the King-Snohomish County line.
Originally an open-air mall of fifty stores, AURORA VILLAGE CENTER opened in 1960. It featured a (30,000 square foot) J.C. Penney, (21,000 square foot) Pay 'n Save Drug, Lucky Stores supermarket and (40,000 square foot) F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10.
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This appears to be taken from Aurora
Photo courtesy Shoreline Historical Museum |
Inline stores included Nordstrom's Shoes, Ernst Hardware, Jay Jacobs, Buster Brown Shoes, Turner Jewelers and Kinney Shoes. A 3-level (180,000 square foot), Seattle-based Frederick and Nelson opened, on the east end of the mall, in July 1963.
Shopping centers in the AURORA VILLAGE trade area included NORTHGATE CENTER / MALL (1950) {4.6 miles south, in King County (Seattle)}, AURORA SQUARE (1967) {2.2 miles southwest, in King County (Shoreline)} and ALDERWOOD MALL (1979) {4.7 miles northeast, in Snohomish County (Lynnwood)}.
A 2-level (71,000 square foot) Nordstrom was dedicated in May 1974, along with an adjacent parking deck. 5 years later, the complex was enclosed and climate-controlled. The newly-renovated center, now going as AURORA VILLAGE MALL, encompassed 550,000 leasable square feet and sixty stores and services.
The Luxury Theatres Aurora Village 4 took the place of a shuttered Lucky Stores supermarket and was in business by 1980. By the late 1980s, the shopping center was in a downward spiral. This was exacerbated by the closing of Frederick and Nelson in September 1991. The final nail in the proverbial coffin came on May 30, 1992, when Nordstrom closed its doors for good.
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| Frederick and Nelson closed in 1991 |
A redevelopment of the struggling retail hub had been on the drawing board for several years. The plan was to raze the mall, with its two anchors left standing. These were to be worked into a new 777,000 square foot complex with two levels of retail, a food court, multiplex cinema and over one hundred and forty stores and services.
Financing for the project was never secured. The mall fell into disrepair and became a haven for crime. It changed hands three times between 1987 and 1992. The final owner, New York City-based Citicorp, acquired the property by default in October 1992. With the anchor stores, and most of the mall, sitting vacant, Citicorp decided to raze the entire structure. Demolition commenced in late 1993.
A 370,000 square foot power center, known as AURORA VILLAGE CENTER, debuted in June of 1994. It included a 1-level (156,000 square foot) Costco, 1-level (130,000 square foot) Home Depot and Big 5 Sporting Goods (a tenant of the original mall). The shopping center site became part of the newly-incorporated city of Shoreline in August 1995.
Mall Hall of Fame Sources:
Malls of America Blogspot / Keith Milford webmaster
The Seattle Times
www.movie-theatre.org / Mike Rivest
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