Renovation of Willow Grove mall promises to capitalize on its history
Philadelphia Inquirer, October 2000
Willow Grove Park officials announced
yesterday a mall renovation with a
Victorian era theme. Part of the $25 million project that will
be
completed in November 2001 and will include a new Macy's and a three
story
parking deck, the renovation is a tribute to the famed amusement
park that
enjoyed its heyday on the site long before the mall.
"The mall is on sacred ground," architect
Frankie Campione said at a news
conference. In manufacturing decadence and whimsy, Campione and
his
colleagues at CREATE Architecture Planning & Design in New York
have
redesigned the mall's food court by replacing its mirrored ceilings
with
drywall and bringing mosaic mural walls and table inlaid with original
Willow Grove Park memorabilia.
The mall failed to capitalize on its historical
niche when it opened in 1982
said Judy Trias, a mall spokeswoman. Trias said the mall's owners,
which
purchased the mall in February for $140 million, pushed for interior
renovations while trying to recruit another department store to
join
Bloomingdale's, Sears and Strawbridge's. Macy's construction began
in July.
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