Clackamas Town Center is a shopping mall in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area, located on unincorporated land in the Clackamas area of Clackamas County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. It opened in 1981. It is managed and co-owned by General Growth Properties and is currently anchored by J.C. Penney, Macy's (including a separate home store), Nordstrom, and Sears. It also includes a 20-screen Century movie theater.
Location
The mall has a Happy Valley, Oregon, mailing address, but is actually located in an unincorporated area. However, the city of Happy Valley was interested in annexing the area that includes the mall. The nearby city of Milwaukie was also interested in annexing the area. In December 2012, mediation between officials of the two cities resulted in a draft agreement under which the mall and other land west of Interstate 205 would eventually be annexed by Milwaukie.
History
The two-level enclosed mall, with 1,218,000 square feet (113,200Â m2) of retail space opened in 1981, built by Ernest W. Hahn, Inc. and designed by Seattle architects John Graham & Company. Original anchors included J. C. Penney, Meier & Frank, Nordstrom, Sears and Montgomery Ward. There was also an ice rink; a five-screen movie theater; and a branch of the Clackamas County Library. Also featured were three large cedar sculptures carved by artist and woodsman, Dudley C. Carter, which were commissioned by the center in 1979, when Carter was eighty-eight.
TriMet diverted or extended its bus service into the new mall, constructing a new transit center in the parking area on the mall's north side, which opened in November 1981 and by 1985 was being used by six bus routes. In the 1990s, skater Tonya Harding practiced on the ice rink.
The mall remained largely unchanged until Montgomery Ward went bankrupt and closed its store in 2001. Meier & Frank acquired the former Ward building and opened a home store in 2002 in the upper level, while leasing out the lower level to Copeland Sports. The ice rink closed in 2003, the original movie theater closed in 2005, and Copeland in turn closed in 2006.
General Growth Properties acquired a half-interest in the property in 2002 and assumed management. A major redevelopment began in 2005 to add 250,000 sq ft (23,000 m2) to the center. As part of the construction the area formerly occupied by the ice rink was gutted, and the Carter sculptures were removed. Designed by architectural firm DLR Group, the renovation and expansion added approximately 40 new stores and restaurants, many in a new lifestyle center on the south side, and a new 75,000 sq ft (7,000 m2), 20-screen Century multiplex theater. The renovation also put in tranquility ponds, new flooring, lighting, furniture, escalators, elevators, handrails, and exterior upgrades. It was completed in late 2007. The new, larger movie theater opened in December 2007.
In September 2009, a new MAX Light Rail station opened at the mall, with the opening of the Green Line. The Clackamas Town Center Transit Center station is the southern terminus of the Green Line and is located on the east side of the mall's parking area. It is also served by several bus lines and it replaced the original transit center, which had closed in 2006 and temporarily been replaced by simple bus stops pending construction of the new facility.
2012 shooting
A shooting occurred on December 11, 2012, which left three people, including the gunman, dead, and one person seriously wounded. At approximately 3:20Â p.m. PST., 22-year-old Jacob Tyler Roberts opened fire near Macy's at the upper level of the mall with an AR-15 rifle. Roberts was wearing a hockey mask and was heard by witnesses shouting out "I am the shooter!" while he fired shots. A 45-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman were killed, and Roberts died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. A fifteen-year-old girl suffered gunshot wounds to the chest and was hospitalized at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital in serious, stable condition. An estimated 60 rounds were fired from Roberts' rifle, and there were about 10,000 shoppers present at the mall at the time of the attack.
Anchor stores
Current
- JCPenney (158,000 ft², opened 1981)
- Macy's Apparel Store (199,000 ft², opened 1980 as Meier & Frank, renamed 2006)
- Macy's Home Store (165,000 ft², opened 1981 as Montgomery Ward, closed 2001, renamed as Meier & Frank Home, renamed Macy's 2006)
- Nordstrom (121,000 ft²)
- Sears (143,695 ft²)
Former
- Meier & Frank, opened October 1980; rebranded as Macy's in 2006
- Copeland Sports (96,000 ft²; opened 2002 in lower level of former Montgomery Ward, closed 2006, space reclaimed by Macy's Home 2007)
- Montgomery Ward (165,000 ft²; closed 2001, subdivided 2002 into Meier & Frank Home, Copeland Sports)
See also
- List of shopping malls in Oregon
References
External links
- Official website
