Main Mall Row
Encyclopedia
Main Mall
Row is an adjoining group of nine commercial buildings along the northeast corner of the intersection of Main and Garden streets in downtown Poughkeepsie
, New York
, United States
. They were mostly built after a fire
in 1870 destroyed the previous buildings on the site. The new structures were three-to-four story buildings in the Renaissance Revival
style
, many with ornament
al touches such as bracketed cornice
s, paneled frieze
s, arcaded
facade
s and molded
lintels. 315 Main Mall, at the east end, has an ornate cast iron
facade. They are considered among the most architecturally significant commercial buildings in the city, and are still in use as stores today. The building at 3-9 Garden Street retains its original storefronts. The row, as with many of the other buildings in downtown Poughkeepsie, was added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1982.
Their current name comes from the city's attempt to establish a pedestrian mall
in the area, the two blocks of Main between Market and Academy streets, during the 1970s. With the nearby Luckey, Platt & Company Department Store
, a commercial mainstay of the city, losing customers to suburban shopping malls, city planners thought they could sustain downtown by offering shoppers a similar experience. In 1973 the two blocks were closed to vehicle traffic. However, the decline of the downtown continued as most shoppers continued to choose the malls, especially after Luckey Platt closed in 1980. The city reopened the street and ended Main Mall in 2001, helping to revive commercial and residential development in the area.
Main Mall
The Main Mall was an outdoor pedestrian shopping plaza in downtown Poughkeepsie, New York, which was in existence from 1973 until 2001. A urban renewal project designed with the intention of stopping the decline of the central business district of downtown Poughkeepsie, the mall was created by...
Row is an adjoining group of nine commercial buildings along the northeast corner of the intersection of Main and Garden streets in downtown Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie (city), New York
Poughkeepsie is a city in the state of New York, United States, which serves as the county seat of Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie is located in the Hudson River Valley midway between New York City and Albany...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. They were mostly built after a fire
Structure fire
A structure fire is a fire involving the structural components of various residential buildings ranging from single-family detached homes and townhouses to apartments and tower blocks, or various commercial buildings ranging from offices to shopping malls...
in 1870 destroyed the previous buildings on the site. The new structures were three-to-four story buildings in the Renaissance Revival
Neo-Renaissance
Renaissance Revival is an all-encompassing designation that covers many 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Grecian nor Gothic but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of classicizing Italian modes...
style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
, many with ornament
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
al touches such as bracketed cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
s, paneled frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
s, arcaded
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
s and molded
Molding (decorative)
Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
lintels. 315 Main Mall, at the east end, has an ornate cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
facade. They are considered among the most architecturally significant commercial buildings in the city, and are still in use as stores today. The building at 3-9 Garden Street retains its original storefronts. The row, as with many of the other buildings in downtown Poughkeepsie, was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1982.
Their current name comes from the city's attempt to establish a pedestrian mall
Pedestrian mall
Pedestrian malls in the United States are also known as pedestrian streets and are the most common form of pedestrian zone in large cities in the United States. It is a street lined with storefronts and closed off to most automobile traffic...
in the area, the two blocks of Main between Market and Academy streets, during the 1970s. With the nearby Luckey, Platt & Company Department Store
Luckey, Platt & Company Department Store
The Luckey, Platt & Company Department Store building is located at the corner of Main and Academy streets in downtown Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. For most of the 20th century it was a major retail destination not only for the city but the entire Hudson Valley...
, a commercial mainstay of the city, losing customers to suburban shopping malls, city planners thought they could sustain downtown by offering shoppers a similar experience. In 1973 the two blocks were closed to vehicle traffic. However, the decline of the downtown continued as most shoppers continued to choose the malls, especially after Luckey Platt closed in 1980. The city reopened the street and ended Main Mall in 2001, helping to revive commercial and residential development in the area.