Cinderella City Mall

Cinderella City Mall

 

 

Cinderella City Mall was a large shopping center located in Englewood, Colorado, United States. The mall was completed and officially opened for business on 7 March 1968 and once held the distinction of being the largest covered shopping center west of the Mississippi River. It featured four sections: Rose Mall, Gold Mall, Shamrock Mall and Cinder Alley. In addition, the Center Court area was known as the Blue Mall. It was demolished in 1999. ~Wikipedia

 

Through the early 1970s, business was spectacular at Cinderella City. It was said that over 15,000 people visited the mall daily. Management received hundreds of applications from potential tenants, although all spaces were filled. For the first few years, the mall's more than 7000 parking spaces were filled to capacity and some visitors had to park in blocks surrounding the mall.

 

 

 

 

As other shopping center competition popped up, Cinderella City management, now in the hands of KRAVCO, decided to embark on an enormous renovation project for the mall that would last three years, 1981 to 1984. The renovation plan changed almost everything except for the basic layout of the mall. The original concrete floors were replaced with parquetry. Skylights and square holes were added in some concourses, allowing shoppers on the first floor to view the basement shoppers, as well as allowing more light into the basement areas. However, the light did not reach Cinder Alley.

 

 

 

 

Cinder Alley, one of the two basement corridors in the mall, simulated a New York City street, complete with outdoor-esque facades and streetlamps. The ceiling tiles were painted black to simulate a sort of "night on the town" effect.
Guy "Yug" London, a professional artist, painted surrealistic work in a public area in the mall. He initially sold these paintings in the center court, and later moved to Cinder Alley.