In 1966, a mall was developed in this area. It breathed life into the city of Elyria for many years, some might say it put Elyria on the map. Several generations of teenagers had the pleasure of being Mall Rats here. Gone are the days where most would let their teens leave for all day and be home by dark. But when they did, most came here.
Struggling since the dot-com bubble, this area has been on the decline for many years; as have other malls nationwide. More people shop online and can't be bothered to drive and walk into a store. More stores close, only a few move in. Many business owners and shoppers see the writing on the wall. However, this might not be the end!
In August 2019 this mall area was purchased at auction by a group of companies / family who own 14 other mall properties nationwide. There are plans in the works to reinvigorate this area in the near future. It is my hope that our kids and grandkids will have a chance to hang out in this area as we did.
You may have spent many days in this area as a teen, as I have, and you might just get a chance to see it flourish once again and enjoy it with your own children.
Here's one last hoo-rah to the area, the Mall Rats series. Undoubtedly most of these caches will be wiped out when the eventual redevelopment starts to unfold. We'll just archive/move as necessary to keep up with the changes. Come take one last good look around your teenage stomping grounds, grab a few smiles (virtual or physical) along the way.
As a bonus this is being set up using L thru M in the titles, which may help with cache name challenges. I hope to have another series nearby with A thru K... and a third with zero thru nine.
41.41768,-81.91412