What's new for Southern Park? Find out Sunday

BOARDMAN

The shuttering of department stores can be a loss from which malls don’t recover.

Credit Suisse predicted that 20 to 25 percent of 2017’s approximately 1,100 American malls will close by 2022.

Washington Prime Group, the Columbus-based company that owns Southern Park Mall, posits that, in the shell of the mall, something else can thrive.

“We want to be the town center,” said Matt Jurkowitz, vice president of development at WPG.

WPG argues that, similar to a city, the mall can provide common space and entertainment, in addition to retail. The mall can increase the vibrancy of local business and give community groups space to thrive. Like a city, the mall can reflect its community with art installations from local students or by opening the region’s favorite brewery.

This notion is embodied in the rendering WPG exclusively shared with The Vindicator.

Read MORE in SUNDAY's VINDICATOR.