Whatever happened with the Kanawha Mall ? (Charleston, Teays Valley: lease, movie theaters, construction)

[atlantagreg30127]

Since it's been years since my last visit, all I get are gleems of sites and what my family tells me about. Last I heard, they were pretty much tearing down the Kanawha Mall and revamping it into an "open air shopping center" (strip mall).

Anyone have any links or articles on it? Amazingly, the Kanawha Mall has no direct web site that I can find, anyway, and I can't find any articles newer than when they started demolition on it a few months ago.

[vec101]

The DMV is doing something big/new. There's been a DMV office there for quite a while and a saleslady told me a lot of the construction is their office. As the following article states, the main HQ may be moving there. I wouldn't be surprised, especially since the DEP bought the movie theater across the side street and has revampled it for there main office.
Charleston Daily Mail - West Virginia News and Sports - Business - Kanawha Mall to get new name, new look*

Yes, it is switching from "mall" to what we used to call a "plaza" format.

[vec101]

Just found another article, the DMV is moving to the Kanawha Mall. I'd say that is quite a boost for the mall.
"The state has signed a lease so it can move the Division of Motor Vehicles to the Kanawha Mall",
Charleston Daily Mail - West Virginia News and Sports - Business - DMV signs lease for space at Kanawha Mall site*

[atlantagreg30127]

Thanks for the article.

So, the movie theater next door to it closed and is going to be used by the State? Wow - things must be bad if a movie theater closed down! In this economy, people slow down going out for stuff like that, but here you never hear of theaters just packing it up.

I actually used to live across the road from the mall when I was in my teens in the early 1980s. We lived near Highland Hospital on 57th street. The mall opened while I lived over there and I got my first job there, too. It was putting exotic toppings on potatoes at a place called, "The Incredible Spud". LOL!

Note: Google Maps has just added street views to some of the Charleston area, too.

[Silkdashocker]

It's not a bad thing in this situation that the movie theater closed. It was a dump anyways. New movie theaters have opened in Southridge, Cross Lanes and Teays Valley in the past 10 years to counter this loss.

[vec101]

I think the Marquee Cinema pretty much chased that old theater out of business. If it didn't, the other new ones for sure did it in. The old theater was the "old-fashioned" kind where you may or may not see over the head in front of you - not like the new ones.