The Unidale Mall is a shopping mall located at the intersection of University Avenue and Dale Street in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. The mall is in the

Summit-University Summit-University is a neighborhood in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, that stretches roughly from University Avenue in the north, Lexington Parkway to the west, Summit Avenue to the south and to the east along John Ireland Boulevard, Kell ...

neighborhood just across from the

Frogtown Frogtown is a neighborhood in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul in the United States, U.S. state of Minnesota. Built around University Avenue (Minneapolis-St. Paul), University Avenue, the Thomas-Dale neighborhood is colloquially known as Frogt ...

neighborhood. The

Rondo Community Outreach Library The rondo is an instrumental musical form introduced in the Classical period. Etymology The English word ''rondo'' comes from the Italian form of the French ''rondeau'', which means "a little round". Despite the common etymological root, rondo ...

is west across Dale Street. The Dale Street station on the

Green Line Green Line may refer to: Places Military and political * Green Line (France), the German occupation line in France during World War II * Green Line (Israel), the 1949 armistice line established between Israel and its neighbours ** City Line ( ...

is also at the intersection. The idea for the mall was first started in 1971 as part of the

Model Cities Program The Model Cities Program was an element of U.S. President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society and War on Poverty. The concept was presented by labor leader Walter Reuther to President Johnson in an off-the-record White House meeting on May 20, 1965. In ...

. The project's ideal result was to create a suburban shopping mall in the heart of the city. The project was pushed by neighborhood activists on city planners. Construction of the mall was completed in 1978 with the mall losing money from 1979 to 1989. In 1987 there were plans to move a nightclub and restaurant to the mall. The mall was owned and operated by Kraus-Anderson in 1988. The anchor of the store in 1989 was the Disabled American Veterans Thrift Store. Plans were brought up in 1989 to do a $6.3 million renovation so the mall could host "United Noodles Oriental Food Inc., a drug store, a food court, and several specialty shops." A 1989 report on the surrounding neighborhood described the mall has a failure and noted the mall's perennial problem of finding suitable tenants. The tenants, such as a welfare office were not the type originally intended. The mall was described as nearly empty 1992 article detailing the problems the surrounding community faced. The mall appeared to be faring better in 2000 when the vice-president of Kraus-Anderson described the mall as fully leased. The mall has hosted a farmers' market on weekends in the parking lot since 1998. The

Saint Paul Public Schools Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS) is a school district (ISD #625) that operates in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Saint Paul Public Schools is the state's largest school district and serves approximately 38,380 students. The district runs 67 different sc ...

district had plans to purchase the property to host adult literacy education and multicultural programs. The Saint Paul Area Learning Center moved to Unidale Mall on February 1, 1991. Those programs eventually moved out of the mall and became Gordon Parks High School.

References

{{coord, 44, 57, 17, N, 93, 7, 28, W, type:landmark_region:US-MN, display=title Buildings and structures in Saint Paul, Minnesota Shopping malls established in 1978 Shopping malls in Minnesota

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