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The Mall at Steamtown

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1992, Quad Three Group. Lackawanna Ave. between S. Washington and Franklin aves.
  • (Photo by William E. Fischer, Jr.)
  • (Photo by William E. Fischer, Jr.)
  • (Photo by William E. Fischer, Jr.)
  • (William E. Fischer, Jr.)

Long and low, its largely windowless expanse modulated by signage and changes in material and color, the internalized mall is an object lesson in the evolution of retail architecture. The Postmodern project, almost a decade in the making, cost the city three demolished blocks of historic commercial buildings, but it succeeded in returning mass-market retailing to downtown Scranton. The real action is inside where a well-scaled, skylighted, twotiered arcade connecting the two department store anchors has become a major civic space, albeit privatized.

Writing Credits

Author: 
George E. Thomas
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Data

What's Nearby

Oppenheim Building (Jonas Long's Sons Department Store)
Bosak Bank Building
Scranton Times Building
Brooks Building
Steamtown National Historic Site

Citation

George E. Thomas, "The Mall at Steamtown", [Scranton, Pennsylvania], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/PA-02-LK9.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of PA vol 2

Buildings of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania, George E. Thomas, with Patricia Likos Ricci, Richard J. Webster, Lawrence M. Newman, Robert Janosov, and Bruce Thomas. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2012, 484-484.

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