(Kalamazoo Gazette file, courtesy of WMU Archives)

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KALAMAZOO, MI -- The city of Kalamazoo, 60 years ago today, made history when dedicating the first outdoor pedestrian shopping mall in the United States.

Related: Historic origin of Kalamazoo Mall featured on PBS series

The Kalamazoo Mall, a section of which was reopened to traffic in 1998, was originally dedicated on Aug. 19, 1959.

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People browse the ACGK Art on the Mall on June 1 in Kalamazoo. (MLive.com file photo)

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The pedestrian mall was originally limited to a two-block section of South Burdick Street, between Water and South Streets, and later expanded.

When it first opened to foot traffic in 1959, the concept of an outdoor pedestrian shopping mall was a new idea in America.

The mall was commissioned to make the urban core more relevant while people flocked to the suburbs, Austrian-born architect Victor Gruen closed off a section of Burdick for foot traffic only.

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(Kalamazoo Gazette file, courtesy of WMU Archives)

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Though the city only implemented a portion of Gruen's plan, it was seen as a bold effort to spur urban vitality and reject the increasingly automobile-oriented culture encouraged by suburbanization.

Two blocks of Burdick Street from Water Street to South Street were closed to vehicle traffic at a cost of $60,000, with that total split between the city and property owners.

A third block was added to the mall from South Street to Lovell Street in 1960, and a fourth between Water and Eleanor Streets in 1975.

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(Kalamazoo Gazette file, courtesy of WMU Archives)

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Businesses like Jacobson's, Gilmore Brothers Department Store and JCPenny populated the mall in addition to local corner stores, restaurants and banks.

The mall drew national attention to Kalamazoo, and served as a template for other communities.

By 1960, over 50 cities nationwide were planning downtown pedestrian malls like Kalamazoo. More than 200 cities in the U.S. installed downtown pedestrian malls, a handful of which still survive today.

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Pedestrians go about their day on the Kalamazoo Mall, July 6, 2018. (MLive.com file photo)

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After one year of being open, retail sales were up 25%, pedestrian traffic increased 30% and $1.5 million in new construction was planned, according to figures provided by Historic Preservation Coordinator Sharon Ferraro.

Despite triggering a nationwide trend and helping to form a new identity for Kalamazoo as "Mall City," the nation's first such mall ultimately had the same fate as many that came later, only to be reopened to traffic in the years that followed.

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(Kalamazoo Gazette file, courtesy of WMU Archives)

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Kalamazoo's pedestrian mall ultimately couldn't survive the continued effects of suburbanization, experts say.

In 1980, Portage's The Crossroads mall opened. JCPenny followed, moving from its downtown location to the suburbs.

By 1992, Battle Creek had removed its pedestrian malls and most other cities were considering the same.

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(Kalamazoo Gazette file, courtesy of WMU Archives)

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In the mid-1990s, Kalamazoo worked on a 10-point plan to revitalize downtown. The most controversial component was introducing an access street through two blocks of the mall.

In a hotly contested election, voters approved the access street in 1997. Virginia firm EDAW was hired to open the Kalamazoo Mall to southbound vehicle traffic.

The 14-foot-wide street was built in 1998 and, after a weekend celebration to mark the occasion, the two-block section between West Michigan Avenue and Lovell Street was reopened to traffic.

The South Kalamazoo Mall section of the former pedestrian mall remains open today to a single lane of southbound traffic.

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(MLive.com File Photo)

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(Kalamazoo Gazette file, courtesy of WMU Archives)

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Nicholas Budzyn and Joe Truep talk inside the Gazelle Sports store on the Kalamazoo Mall, July 6, 2018. (MLive.com File Photo)

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(Kalamazoo Gazette file, courtesy of WMU Archives)

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Charmaine McQueen and Crystal McQueen talk on the Kalamazoo Mall, July 6, 2018. (MLive.com file photo)

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(Kalamazoo Gazette file, courtesy of WMU Archives)

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View of the Kalamazoo Mall, July 6, 2018. (MLive.com file photo)

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Interior of The Spirit of Kalamazoo gift and ice-cream shop located on the Kalamazoo Mall, July 6, 2018. (MLive.com file photo)

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(Kalamazoo Gazette file, courtesy of WMU Archives)

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Pedestrians go about their day on the Kalamazoo Mall, July 6, 2018. (MLive.com file photo)

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(Kalamazoo Gazette file, courtesy of WMU Archives)

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View of the Mall Plaza building on the Kalamazoo Mall. (MLive.com | File Photo)

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(Kalamazoo Gazette file, courtesy of WMU Archives)

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A plaque recognizing the historic significance of the Kalamazoo Mall is located on the section of the mall that remains closed to traffic, just north of West Michigan Avenue near the east entrance to the Radisson Plaza Hotel.