Updated: July 25, 2026
In this guide
If you were downtown Columbus on August 18, 1989, you might have thought the city had just landed a blockbuster. Columbus City Center, the shiny new mall on the block, swung open its doors with the kind of fanfare usually reserved for rock stars and royal weddings.
Official estimates say 60,000 shoppers poured in by 4 p.m., with some guesses pushing that number to 100,000 by the end of the night. For a city used to big things but not this big, it was a tidal wave of retail excitement.
What happened to City Center Mall?
Columbus City Center opened on August 18, 1989, and closed on March 5, 2009, after losing all three of its department store anchors. The city bought the failing mall in 2007 and tore it down in 2009 and 2010. Columbus Commons, the downtown park on the site today, opened in 2011.
| Date | What happened |
| August 18, 1989 | City Center opens with 3 anchors and 100+ stores |
| 1992 | Peak: 144 stores |
| 1997–2001 | Tuttle Crossing, Easton, and Polaris open |
| 2002 | Jacobson’s goes bankrupt, the first anchor lost |
| 2003 | Marshall Field’s becomes Kaufmann’s |
| Summer 2004 | Lazarus closes downtown after 153 years |
| September 2006 | Kaufmann’s becomes Macy’s |
| November 2007 | Macy’s closes; the city buys the mall |
| March 5, 2009 | City Center closes for good |
| October 2009 – March 2010 | Demolition |
| May 2011 | Columbus Commons opens |
Columbus’s biggest, fanciest mall
Clocking in at over 1.2 million square feet across three levels, it was Columbus’s largest, most upscale shopping mecca — a sprawling palace of over 100 stores, anchored by heavy hitters Marshall Field’s and Jacobson’s, with a skybridge over High Street connecting straight into the flagship Lazarus store. Specialty shops like Brooks Brothers and Henri Bendel filled out the directory.
The tiered seating area smack in the middle quickly became a downtown hangout spot — a place where you could catch a local high school choir perform or just ride those iconic glass elevators up and down while people-watching.
But here’s the thing: while the opening felt like the dawn of a new retail era, the City Center dream quickly hit some speed bumps.
By December of that very year, the Capitol South project, the massive downtown development behind City Center, owed the city $42.4 million — plus a pile of lawsuits from unpaid contractors. The glittering mall was already carrying some serious financial baggage.
Still, things looked bright in the early ‘90s. By its 1992 peak, City Center held 144 stores, many exclusive to downtown, and was the go-to spot for locals craving a slice of the big-city mall vibe without leaving Columbus. Limited Brands, a local powerhouse, made sure its flagship brands were all represented, keeping shoppers coming back.
But the retail world changes fast.
By 2002, Jacobson’s filed for bankruptcy, pulling the first anchor out from under City Center’s feet. Then in 2004, after a staggering 153 years, Lazarus shuttered its doors downtown, leaving just Kaufmann’s, which had taken over the Marshall Field’s space in 2003, as the mall’s lone anchor. Kaufmann’s became Macy’s in the fall of 2006, and the store bowed out for good in late November 2007.
The long, slow goodbye
The forces that killed City Center get named fast by anyone who lived here. The Mall at Tuttle Crossing opened in 1997. Easton Town Center followed in 1999, then Polaris Fashion Place in 2001, and each one pulled tenants and shoppers a little further from downtown. There’s an irony buried in that timeline, too. Les Wexner, whose Limited Brands stores propped up City Center’s directory from day one, went on to co-develop Easton. As late as 1996, the mall’s manager was still telling reporters City Center was “almost competition-proof.”
After Macy’s left, City Center ran without a single anchor for about 15 months. By early 2009, eight stores remained, sharing 5,000 square feet of a 1.25 million square foot building. The last holdout was Mark Pi’s Express in the food court, an original 1989 tenant, which served its final orders on February 27, 2009. The mall’s doors locked six days later.
The mall lingered on, a shadow of its former self, until it finally closed for good on March 5, 2009.
The city sued Simon Property Group in the summer of 2007, claiming the owner had let the property rot while skipping tax bills and more than $200,000 in rent on the city-owned land underneath. Minutes before the eviction was set to go through, the two sides cut a deal for the city to buy the mall instead. Demolition began in October 2009, and by March 2010, the once-bustling retail hub was reduced to rubble.
Why it came down instead of coming back
Reuse was never realistic. The building was designed to face inward, with blank walls to the street and a climate system that counted on crowds for body heat. Capitol South put the cost of converting it to offices at $250 per square foot, which was more than tearing it down. So down it came, piece by piece rather than by wrecking ball, to protect the underground garage that still operates beneath the site today. Roughly 80% of the building’s materials were recycled, and the demolition crew, S.G. Loewendick & Sons, picked up an award at the 2010 World Demolition Awards for the job.
But every ending needs a fresh start. Out of the ashes rose Columbus Commons, the city’s new public living room. The park opened in May 2011 at 9 acres, though apartment buildings along its edges have since trimmed it to 6. These days it hosts more than 200 mostly free events a year, and the carousel spins free of charge every single day, right about where those famous glass elevators used to run.
It’s a reminder that downtown Columbus is always evolving, even if the shopping malls of the past aren’t around anymore.
City Center Mall FAQ
When did City Center Mall in Columbus close?
The mall closed on March 5, 2009. The last store still operating, a Mark Pi’s Express that had been there since opening day, closed on February 27, 2009.
Why did City Center Mall close?
Suburban competition did most of the damage. The Mall at Tuttle Crossing opened in 1997, and Easton Town Center and Polaris Fashion Place followed within four years. City Center’s anchors fell one by one, and the building’s inward-facing design left nothing to draw people downtown once the stores emptied out.
What stands where City Center Mall used to be?
Columbus Commons, a six-acre downtown park built on the mall site in 2011. The carousel gives free rides every day, and the park hosts more than 200 mostly free events a year. The mall’s underground parking garage survived and still operates beneath it.
What were the anchor stores at City Center?
Marshall Field’s and Jacobson’s, plus the flagship Lazarus store, which connected to the mall by an enclosed skybridge over High Street. The Marshall Field’s space became Kaufmann’s in 2003, then Macy’s in 2006.
If you want to get a real sense of what it was like to visit City Center back in the day, I highly recommend you stick around and watch this incredible video of the mall’s opening day. And if that leaves you wanting more, there’s also footage of Christmas at City Center in the early ’90s.
