Northland past and future: Former Oak Park mayor pens book about iconic mall

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Once ranked the largest shopping mall in the world, Northland was a symbol of the future.

When the shopping center opened in March of 1954, it was one of the most talked about and visited places in Metro Detroit, showcasing a new, modern-for-its-time style of gardens, terraces, boutique shops and pedestrian walkways, epitomizing Metro Detroit’s wave of suburban migration in the post-war era.

Northland’s heyday is now long gone. Target closed its outlet there in December 2014. Then in October 2015, the City of Southfield purchased the property for $2.4 million and put a chain link fence around it to protect the contents from scavengers.

Author Jerry Naftaly with his book near the Northland Center water tower. Photo courtesy .

Early aerial shot of Northland Center. Photo courtesy Ken Siver.

Now, the forlorn 114-acre vacant mall is the topic of a book by former Oak Park Mayor Jerry Naftaly, who was born the year of Northland’s groundbreaking in 1952. Naftaly’s family moved to Oak Park the year the mall opened and became frequent visitors.

See the story at right on what the Northland property might become>>>

Naftaly spent over a year researching stories and pictures to produce Northland Mall, published this month as an Images of Modern America book by Arcadia Publishing.

Metromode caught up with Naftaly to find out why he was so fascinated with this derelict icon of our suburban past.

Author Jerry Naftaly with his book near the Northland Center water tower. Photo courtesy .

Metromode: What intrigued you about Northland?

Jerry Naftaly: Northland was my family’s downtown. I got my Bar Mitzvah suit there. Went to fishing contests there with my Dad. My uncle’s CPA firm was across the street on Greenfield. My family’s closest friends owned the geodesic dome that started life as the Northland Playhouse and later became the Mump, a teen nightclub. Before it was demolished, I wanted to create some lasting memories for the shoppers and the families whose businesses began at Northland.

Why did Hudson-Webber build a mall in Southfield at a time when the downtown Detroit Hudson’s was still thriving?

The Hudson-Webber family were at crosshairs over the mall concept, according to J.L. Hudson’s great, great nephew, James Webber. He said the retail giant had to compete with the growing migration of stores to the suburbs, but another nephew wanted to stay downtown because the Hudson’s store, built in 1911 and expanded as late as 1946, was still the flagship.

The nephews didn’t talk for some time because of this rift. Meanwhile, Hudson’s nephew was having conversations with Los Angeles architect Victor Gruen, who suggested the retail giant open a series of stores that could be anchors for smaller shops surrounding a four-story department store. The first would be Northland Center in Southfield, which at the time was a township without a main street on the cusp of Detroit and the northern suburbs. Eventually, there would be Eastland, Westland and Southland.

Who constructed Northland?

Victor Gruen and Associates, who continue to operate an architectural firm, although the name is now Gruen Associates. They opened up their archives for some photos that had never been seen before. An Ashkenazi Jew, Gruen left Germany before Hitler’s horrific purge, moved to California. He set about designing a new shopping experience that would include lavish landscaping in large brick planters, auditoriums, sculptures, fountains, and even a bomb shelter that could house 7,000 people in an emergency.

It was so unique in what it provided for everybody, from amusement rides for children to free gas. Northland was his first major project, and it drew acclaim from nearly every newspaper and magazine in the country, thanks to excellent public relations.

What was the land Northland sits on before it became a shopping mall?

The Clinton family (no relation to Hillary and Bill) owned a farm that offered pony rides and other amusements for children. As the population pushed out from Detroit, the chunk of land at 8 Mile and Greenfield Roads looked inviting to many.

Boy and Bear statue in Northland Center. Photo courtesy Jerry Naftaly.

The Boy and Bear statue at its new home in the Southfield Public Library. Photo courtesy Maureen McDonald.

Lawrence Technical University first bought the property and originally planned to put its college there. Several professors bought houses just to the west. But Hudson’s wanted it badly and purchased it from the college. So LTU ended up at the property at 10 Mile Road and Northwestern Highway.

What was the strangest thing you found about Northland?

The last mall manager took me on a tour of the tunnels that once served as pathways for truck deliveries to Northland stores, including places for storage and 484 rooms of varied sizes. There were old mannequins, computer junk, purses and shoes, and an anonymous letter from a guy who squatted a month down under the mall. The tunnels and the bomb shelter on the lowest level will add to the demolition cost, which the city estimates at $8 to $10 million.

Tunnels beneath Northland. Photo by Jerry Naftaly.

Any other oddities?

In 1960, a family was chosen among dozens of people that applied to live in a fallout shelter with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, so people could see how they could live for a week. At the time, a popular idea was for people to build a fallout shelter in their basement in case of nuclear attack. This was at a time when Russia’s premier, Nikita Khrushchev, promised Americans “We will bury you.”

Fallout shelter beneath Northland. Photo by Jerry Naftaly.

So the Roland family, including an optometrist, wife, son and daughter let people watch them exercise, play board games and eat canned beans and spaghetti. They had curtains they could pull tight at night. Psychiatrists examined them daily to see how they fared in captivity. They survived. The family still runs Roland Optical in Bloomfield Township.

What killed Northland?

Competition from newer, upscale malls, particularly those designed by Taubman, made Northland obsolete. Crime became an increasingly onerous factor. Once anchor stores Target and Macy’s left, retail became harder to attract.

An empty Macy's department store. Photo by Jerry Naftaly. — An empty Macy’s department store. Photo by Jerry Naftaly.

In its waning years, Northland was owned by Ashkenazy Acquisition Company, which also owns Eastland Mall. The Detroit Free Press reported the owners defaulted on a $31 million loan against Northland and they were losing $250,000 a month. The city of Southfield helped the remaining tenants find new quarters to operate, and studies are underway to find a new use for the property.

What’s your favorite part of the story?

The City of Southfield rescued the Boy and the Bear, the limestone and bronze sculpture by Marshall Fredericks that now sits in the lobby of the Southfield Public Library. An ongoing fundraising campaign helped to offset the cost of the statue and will also create a fund for youth arts and local artists in Southfield.

The statue was originally commissioned as a way to bring a warm and fuzzy aspect to the mall to offset the cold brick-and-mortar of the building. Kids enjoyed it and continue to do so. It made it the cover of my book.

Boy and Bear statue in Northland Center. Photo courtesy Jerry Naftaly.

The Boy and Bear statue at its new home in the Southfield Public Library. Photo courtesy Maureen McDonald.

Northland Center’s next life

How do you revive a dead mall?

Ideas for how to re-use the 114 acres that were once occupied by Northland Center, once the largest shopping mall in America, range from a Costco outlet to expansion of the St. John Providence Hospital that already occupies the perimeter of the site.

Southfield Mayor Ken Siver assures the space will be re-used and not left to disintegrate as Summit Place Mall has in Waterford.

“We are still in a fact-finding mode regarding demolition and remediation,” Siver says.

The City of Southfield invested $300,000 in Livonia-based OHM Advisors to study engineering, space, economic development incentives and public relations opportunities related to the site. A team of OHM staff are involved in researching the wishes of government leaders, corporate and nonprofit stakeholders and ordinary citizens on the project.

Residents will have a second chance to give input on options July 21 at City Hall, before OHM delivers its plan to the city planning commission July 28 and unveils a vision board to the Southfield city council in early August.

Citizen input was energetic on Family Day on the grounds of Southfield Civic Center a few weeks ago. As people chomped on hot dogs and toured a SWAT mobile, they expressed a resounding “no” to the idea of building a new mall. Instead, they suggested dog parks, walking paths, a swimming pool, and expansion of the Providence Hospital campus.

“When people think about 114 acres, there are so many big things that it could be. They don’t want it chopped up in strip malls; they want something special,” says Aaron Domini, a principle of OHM Advisors.

Among the ideas for re-use of the landmark site that marked Southfield’s transformation from a farm community to a city of subdivisions is a mix of uses including offices, multi-generational housing, a lake and a park, according to Domini.

The biggest stumbling block is the underground tunnels that course through the complex, including a bomb shelter designed for 7,000 people.

Domini said the team is weighing the option of burying the detritus of demolition in the empty underground space against creating a lake out of the bomb shelter.

The team is also looking at opportunities for medical offices and new housing for interns and residents, new senior housing and trendy lofts for younger buyers. Some of the structures, like the four-story Macy’s, could stay, anchoring new development.

Nearly all of Southfield’s housing stock was built between 1950 and 1970, so new housing is a firm possibility, according to Domini.

Vacant or dying malls are so common these days there is even a website dedicated to them, www.deadmalls.com. The site chronicles stories and pictures of once vital malls. Summit Place Mall in Waterford has stood empty since 2009 and faces imminent demolition, according to Commercial Property Executive newsletter.

But not all older malls are facing demise. Macomb Mall in Roseville was purchased in 2013 by Lomar and Stern, a real estate investment company that secured a Dick’s Sporting Goods and expanded the size of some stable tenants. The mall survives owing to its proximity to a densely populated, middle-class clientele.

In other states, dead malls have found new life. In Joplin, MO, the Northpark Mall became a high school; in Oliver Springs, TN, the Tri-County Mall became a mega-church, and in Providence, RI; the Arcade became micro-lofts. Google put its offices in the former Mayfield Mall in Mountain View, CA.

With over 100 acres to dream with, the options are wide open.

Northland past and future: Former Oak Park mayor pens book about iconic mall

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