I See by the Papers...

It was a grandest day, to hear the dignitaries tell it.

"It's a day of celebration and a day of tribute," said Mayor Bill Barone. "We as citizens can be very proud of what we've accomplished and of what we see because we've done it all together." Other notables called it "fantastic" and "a very joyous occasion." They all wore flowers on their lapels, pinned there by performers wearing tuxedos and top hats. The Santa Rosa High School marching band played the Rocky theme song and oddly, the "thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat" background music from ABC's Wide World of Sports.

This was happening at the 1982 ribbon-cutting for the mall, which the mayor crowed was "the new heart of our city."

Mall developer Ernest Hahn was also on hand and said he was gratified by all those who supported the project "through thick and thin." The shopping center was going to provide 2,000 permanent new jobs with an annual payroll of $20 million. Oh, sure, only about sixty of the 130 spaces were actually leased at the time, but by the end of the year he expected full occupancy.

What a difference a year makes. In early January 1983 - roughly 300 days since the grand opening - Hahn Inc. sold the mall. Over half the spaces were never rented, and after a lousy Christmas shopping season prospects grew even dimmer as eight tenants moved out.

The Press Democrat had printed countless front page articles and feature spreads cheering for Hahn and portraying the mall as a no-risk road to riches while damning Hugh Codding and other skeptics. Yet when the end came, the PD buried the bombshell story of Hahn's hasty departure in a 500-word item on page eight of a mid-week edition.

The rest of this article can be read at the SantaRosaHistory.com website. Because of recurring problems with the Blogger platform, I am no longer wasting my time formatting and posting complete articles here. I will continue to create stubs for the sake of continuity, but will be publishing full articles only at SantaRosaHistory.com. - Jeff Elliott

You’re standing at the intersection of Fourth and B streets, next to where the Citibank building is now. It is March 15, 1978 - groundbreaking day for the downtown mall.

Twice before you've visited this spot; the most recent was the 1982 grand opening of the mall. In 1972 you were also here for a last look-see at the old district west of B before the city began demolishing it all. Those time machine trips were mentioned in the first chapter of this series, "HOW THE MALL CAME TO BE."

But before you now in 1978 is a vast vacant lot, 43 acres scraped clear of the barber shops, the hotels filled with pensioners, the dive bars and the ballet school, the grand Art Deco "Cal" movie palace, the thrift shops and lunch counters. Gone are places where you could swing by after work and go home with the latest Elton John album or a live parakeet in a cage - the sort of eclectic district whose character helps a town thrive. All that remains now is the old Post Office, which will be moved in a couple of years and become the Sonoma County Museum.

About 300 yards away, near what once was the corner of Second and A streets, there's something going on. You see a raised platform with a lectern - although so few are in the audience that a speaker could be easily heard without a microphone.

Such a meager attendance seems odd, considering that morning a PD editorial boasted this is "the beginning of a new day" that will bring "a thriving shopping center in the heart of our city." The paper will later claim a poll shows four out of five residents want the mall opened ASAP.

Yet the crowd doesn't seem too appreciative of the blessings that are surely soon to come. In front of the rostrum a young girl marches back and forth with a protest sign. There are also adults (including a former Planning Commissioner) holding posters that read, "Don't divide our city!" and "Don't isolate Railroad Square" and "Did you vote on urban renewal?"

The rest of this article can be read at the SantaRosaHistory.com website. Because of recurring problems with the Blogger platform, I am no longer wasting my time formatting and posting complete articles here. I will continue to create stubs for the sake of continuity, but will be publishing full articles only at SantaRosaHistory.com.

- Jeff Elliott