Riverbend Mall was a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

located in

Rome, Georgia Rome is the largest city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia metropolitan area, Rome, Georgia, metropolitan statist ...

. It was open from 1975 to 2002, when it was demolished and replaced with a strip mall. The mall was built by the Ledbetter family, local developers that continue to own the property it sits on today. The Mall was the scene of a notorious

kidnapping Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

on September 25, 1982, of thirteen-year-old Lisa Ann Millican, by

sexual predator A sexual predator is a person seen as obtaining or trying to obtain sexual contact with another person in a metaphorically "predatory" or abusive manner. Analogous to how a predator hunts down its prey, so the sexual predator is thought to "hunt" ...

Alvin and Judith Neelley Alvin Howard Neelley Jr. (July 15, 1953 – October 21, 2005) and Judith Ann Adams Neelley (born June 7, 1964) are an American married couple who committed the kidnappings and torture murders of Lisa Ann Millican and Janice Kay Chatman; they als ...

. Millican was subsequently murdered by the Neelleys.

Early history

At its peak, the mall contained three anchors: Belk Rhodes, Miller Brothers, and J. C. Penney. All three anchors were only one story and the JCPenney was one of the smallest in the chain. Other stores in the mall included a Revco Drug (later CVS),

Morrison's Cafeteria Morrison's Cafeterias was a chain of cafeteria-style restaurants, located in the Southeastern United States with a concentration of locations in Georgia and Florida. Generally found in shopping malls, Morrison's primary competition was Piccadil ...

, Circus World (later

KB Toys K·B Toys (also known as Kay Bee Toys) was an American chain of mall-based retail toy stores. The company was founded in 1922 as Kaufman Brothers, a wholesale candy store. The company opened a wholesale toy store in 1946, and ended its candy wh ...

), GNC, Riverbend Cinema, World Bazaar, Walden Books, Martin's Men's Wear, Dollar Tree, Faye's Hallmark, Briar Patch, King & Queen Salon, The Fun Tunnel, Chick-fil-a, FATS BBQ, and

Baskin-Robbins Baskin-Robbins, Inc. is an American multinational chain of ice cream and cake specialty store, specialty shops owned by Inspire Brands. Baskin-Robbins was formed in 1945 by Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins in Glendale, California.Hess's Hess's, originally known as Hess Brothers, was a department store chain based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company was founded a single store in 1897, and grew to nearly 80 stores by its commercial peak in the late 1980s. The chains stores were ...

, a major Mid-Atlantic department store chain that was sold to

Proffitt's Proffitt's was a department store chain based in Alcoa, Tennessee. The chain was founded in 1919 by David W. Proffitt and James Ellis. In 2006, the Proffitt's and McRae's stores were converted into Belk after Belk had acquired the two chains in ...

in 1992.

Expansion

The mall was expanded in 1988 to include a

food court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food Vendor, vendors and provides a common area for self-serve di ...

. The Belk Rhodes design was typical of that era, with burnt orange carpet and earthtones. The Belk Rhodes and Miller's stores were both designed by Stevens & Wilkinson, who also designed the Rich's and Richway stores in the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

area.

Flooding and closure

In January 1990, the

Etowah River The Etowah River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 waterway that rises northwest of Dahlonega, Georgia, Dahlonega, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, ...

rose up and flooded the mall. This prompted the closure and major cleanup of the mall. The flooding destroyed public perception, and the mall was even nicknamed the "brown mall" over the brown limestone texture of it combined with the brown water from the flood. After the cleanup, the anchors stores left when another mall, Mount Berry Square, opened to the north.

The Bon-Ton Bonton Holdings Inc. operating as Bonton () was an American department store chain and group founded in 1898. It operated in Western New York, Pennsylvania, Western Maryland, and throughout the Midwestern United States. The former York, Pennsy ...

, a chain based out of

York, Pennsylvania York is a city in York County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located in South Central Pennsylvania, the city's population was 44,800 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in ...

, having purchased the former Miller's/Hess's in 1993, took that space, and Belk Rhodes briefly operated half of their former space as an outlet. The Bon-Ton there was the only known Georgia location and closed a short time after anchoring the center. The other half became an office for the Coosa Medical Group. By 2000, Ford's Furniture was the last full anchor to the mall, occupying the former Miller's/Hess's. A few of the last remaining stores included The Comic Stop, Dive Shop, and Knight's Jewelers. The mall was closed and

demolished Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apa ...

in 2002. The site was redeveloped as a strip mall with a

Kroger The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States. Founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cinc ...

grocery store, a

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States. Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...

, Ross Dress For Less, and a new Coosa Medical Group building on the south side of the former site. The original Belk Rhodes building still stands as a medical office building, the only part of the original structure to escape demolition.

References

External links

Deadmalls.com: Riverbend Mall

(features historic photos) {{Shopping malls in Georgia (U.S. state) 1975 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 2002 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Buildings and structures demolished in 2002 Buildings and structures in Rome, Georgia Demolished buildings and structures in Georgia (U.S. state) Demolished shopping malls in the United States Shopping malls in Georgia (U.S. state) Shopping malls established in 1975 Shopping malls disestablished in 2002 Tourist attractions in Floyd County, Georgia

Early history

Expansion

Flooding and closure

See also

References

External links