West End Plaza is a shopping mall in Salisbury, North Carolina. It is owned by Rowan County, North Carolina.
A shopping mall is a modern, chiefly North American, term for a form of shopping precinct or shopping center in which one or more buildings form a complex of shops with interconnecting walkways, usually indoors. In 2017, shopping malls accounted for 8% of retailing space in the United States.
Salisbury is a city in the Piedmont region of North Carolina; it has been the county seat of Rowan County since 1753 when Rowan County was much larger and its territory extended to the Mississippi River. Located 44 miles northeast of Charlotte and within its metropolitan area, the town has attracted a growing population, which was 33,663 in the 2010 – 27.8 percent greater than 2000.
Rowan County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina and formed in 1753 as part of the British Province of North Carolina. While originally a vast territory with unlimited western boundaries, its size was reduced to 524 square miles after several counties were formed from Rowan County in the 18th and 19th century. As of the 2010 census, the population was 138,428. Its county seat, Salisbury, is the oldest continuously populated town in western North Carolina. Rowan County is located northeast of Charlotte and it is considered part of the metropolitan area.
Built starting in 1986 at Jake Alexander Boulevard and Statesville Boulevard, Salisbury Mall appeared to be in a good place. However, critics said the mall should have been built closer to Interstate 85. In August 2013, J. C. Penney, an original anchor, closed its store, and Belk moved to another shopping center later that year. Big Lots had already moved to a new location, and much of the mall was empty. [1]
Interstate 85 (I-85) is a major Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States. Its current southern terminus is at an interchange with I-65 in Montgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus interchanges with I-95 in Petersburg, Virginia, near Richmond. It is nominally north–south, but it is physically oriented northeast–southwest and actually covers a larger east-west span than north-south. While most interstates that end in a "5" are cross-country routes, I-85 is mainly a regional route, serving five southeastern states. Major metropolitan areas served by I-85 include the Greater Richmond Region in Virginia, the Research Triangle, Piedmont Triad, and Metrolina regions of North Carolina, Upstate South Carolina, the Atlanta metropolitan area in Georgia, and the Montgomery metropolitan area in Alabama.
J. C. Penney Company, Inc. is an American department store chain with 864 locations in 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. In addition to selling conventional merchandise, J. C. Penney stores often house several leased departments such as Sephora, Seattle's Best Coffee, salons, auto centers, optical centers, portrait studios, and jewelry repair.
Belk, Inc., is an American department store chain founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, North Carolina, with 300 locations in 16 states. Belk stores and Belk.com offer apparel, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings and wedding registry.
Rowan County bought Salisbury Mall in December 2013 for $3.4 million [2] because of a need for additional office space. The mall was renamed West End Plaza. [3]
By September 2014, with other stores in the mall closing, Books-A-Million closed. [4]
Books-A-Million, Inc., also known as BAM!, owns and operates the second largest bookstore chain in the United States, operating 260 stores in 32 states. Stores range in size from 4,000 to 30,000 square feet and sell books, magazines, collectibles, toys, technology, and gifts. Most Books-A-Million stores feature "Joe Muggs" cafés, a coffee and espresso bar.
A 2015 master plan called for moving social services and the health department into the former mall, and the sheriff and probation into their former space. Other possibilities were the library's history and genealogy room, and planning, building inspections and environmental departments. A conference center was also considered. The former J.C. Penney was used for events. [3]
Social services are a range of public services provided by the government, private, profit and non-profit organizations. These public services aim to create more effective organizations, build stronger communities, and promote equality and opportunity.
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England, where the office originated. There is an analogous although independently developed office in Iceland that is commonly translated to English as sheriff, and this is discussed below.
Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court instead of serving time in prison.
As of September 2017, the Board of Elections and Veterans Services had moved into West End Plaza. Renovating the former Penney's proved to be too expensive. [5]
Veterans Affairs is an area of public policy concerned with relations between a government and its communities of military veterans. Some jurisdictions have a designated government agency or department, a Department of Veterans' Affairs, Ministry of Veterans' Affairs, or the like, which oversees issues relating to the Veterans Affairs. These departments provide a variety of services for veterans. The particular services provided can vary by jurisdiction, but can include things such as:
On July 1, 2019, Rowan County commissioners considered an $18.93 million plan by ADW Architects to improve the mall. This included $2.9 million to renovate a section of the mall for an agriculture center, $7.6 million for an events space, $5.1 million for exterior renovations and parking improvements, and $3.2 million for additional exterior work and traffic-related improvements such as roundabouts. [6]
