Carousel Mall; San Bernardino, California
Long ago, on the not-so-distant planet called California, a mall opened as part of an urban renewal project in downtown San Bernardino. The year was 1972 and the mall was Central City Mall (later Carousel Mall). It opened to popularity and fanfare with anchors Harris’, JCPenney, and Montgomery Ward. Not too long passed before the mall began to encounter problems. In 1978, it was noted that gang violence was on the rise and shoppers fled.
Despite the gang problem, the mall limped on. Throughout the 1980s gangs used the mall as a local gathering place and prevented the mall from being as successful as originally planned. Also contributing to this was a lack of follow through on the city’s part. Shortly after Central City Mall opened, the city developed a master plan of revitalizing the entire downtown, complete with commercial skyscrapers, a fourth anchor store for the mall, a large central city park, and even an aerial tramway connecting to nearby shopping destination Inland Center and recreational Silverwood Lake. None of these plans ever came to fruition.
By the 1990s, the mall was still limping along and not anything spectacular. The developers and the city felt ashamed that their half-assed downtown redevelopment plan failed and the mall was renamed Carousel Mall in 1991, after a large carousel was added to the center of the facility. Meant to be the new centerpiece of the mall, it was also intended to attract traffic. It attracted some people, but again it did not live up to the hopes and dreams of those who wished for bigger and better things.
Through the 1990s, Carousel Mall went steadily downhill. Competition from nearby Inland Center took traffic and the Harris anchor away as it merged with Gottschalk’s. Inland Center positioned itself as the successful mall for San Bernardino, with all the popular chain stores. The anchor stores all eventually left Carousel Mall, and parts of the mall were turned into office space. Carousel Mall’s days as a retail center were over. Today, there are a handful of stores, mostly local, and the carousel still runs at only a dollar a ride. But not for long.
Plans are currently underway for the mall to be slowly deconstructed, and replaced with a mixed-use development consisting of lofts, townhomes, office space, about 120,000 square feet of shops, and a man-made stream. Wow! Sure sounds exciting. Construction should begin by early 2007, and the mall will be taken down in phases. The new development is tenatively called Court Street West, and will end up reopening streets the mall blocked as the mall is disassembled.
I wish San Bernardino a lot of luck with this redevelopment. Hopefully they’ll follow through and make a concerted effort this time, and the development won’t fall flat on its back and lie fallow for years.
In the mean time, take a look at the pictures I took of the mall in March 2005. Enjoy the amazingly wide open first floor, dated tiles and fixtures, globe lights, and neon. There sure weren’t many people in the mall that day (or ever, apparently) so I’m happy to share the mall with the world before it bites the dust.
on March 18th, 2007 at 12:55 am
Thats a nice looking mall!
on March 20th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
What’s going to happen to the carousel?
on May 24th, 2007 at 11:58 am
It’s a shame the mall will be torn down. I’ve had a lot of happy memories there with my family. Haven’t seen it since 1996…been out of the country ever since.
on June 28th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
its pretty sad im 19 i remember those good memories as a kid at the carousel mall (mongemory wards, riding the carousel, the little train, the buffet, ill be sad to see it gone but we still got those memories
on July 12th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
INLAND CENTER MALL ROCKS!
on September 14th, 2007 at 4:58 am
[…] Two of the five are here in Southern California. And it’s hard to argue with San Bernardino earning the top of the bottom. It has a downtown that would best be desribed by World Wrestling Entertainment commentator Jim Ross as “bowling shoe ugly”. Here’s Shigley: Where to begin? Downtown San Berdoo has been a depressing and dangerous place for a long time. The Carousel Mall (originally called the Central City Mall) opened during the early 1970s, helping kill off mom-and-pop businesses. Before long, the mall itself started to decline and for two decades it has been a white elephant surrounded by empty parking lots in the midst of downtown. For years, developers have been interested mostly in freeway frontage elsewhere in town. During the last 10 years, the city and developers have cooked up numerous schemes to revive downtown, ranging from wiping out part of downtown with a series of lakes and canals, to re-using the mall for housing. But it has been little more than talk. […]
on December 6th, 2007 at 3:19 am
I am also saddened by the shape of the downtown area ever since the low lifes have taken over the Mall. I wish you luck in rebuilding the downtown area and running the gangs out of over great city.
on January 6th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
I like the lake idea. It’s so hot there it could be called the lake of fire.That place is like a hell on earth anyway. I have never seen soo many gangbanging thugs, so many murders, and so many fearful people in my loife. The place is a pit of lawlessness and it is nearly helpless because the people who run the place are just as corrupt as the gangbangers themselves. I think the best way to describe the region is, “got dope”.
The mountainous landscape is beautiful though, it would work as a place of beauty if only the leaders would leave back to wherever they came from.
on February 24th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
The property has been sold. The housing market was bad, so the project was scrapped:
http://www.pe.com/localnews/sanbernardino/stories/PE_News_Local_S_mall10.345c06b.html
Is the mall still open for business?
on March 6th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
i miss that mall..good times with my mom. i love you mom.
on April 10th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
I found a stupid entrance on this mall on Wikipedia, but i think they’ve deleted it ever since, it was under the name “Metrocenter Mall” so far fetch! it said that it had Dillard’s at one time, 2 Macy’s (One Robinson’s May, one Macy’s), a skate park, AN ICE RINK?! A cinema, even a Chick-Fil-A! It said that the Sears is still working, HA! As If, i drive by almost everyday and the only sears i see are the bums and gangs all over the area, it was so dumb! It said Target is going to replace Penny’s! Target would not oven in down town Berdino, it’s just…terrible, man! They also said that a High school to be called “MetroCentre Academy” was going to open! I wish they had done all those nice things to the mall!
but i think it’s just like a dream, San Berdino is a nice county, largest in our US of A, but their county seat is just awful! I wish them luck trying to fix THAT mess! If it was legal, i’d bet money they can’t 
on August 30th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
It appears the new owners of the mall have an idea: turn it into what it already is, but ethnically centered for hispanic residents.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/sanbernardino/stories/PE_News_Local_D_mall15.2ae96c3.html
City of San Bernardino doesn’t get to say who owns the place, but they do get to approve what happens to the buildings… I smell another stalemate.
on November 8th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
I was born and raised in Berdoo and when I was in high school Central City Mall was always the place to hang out. I graduated in 1990 but if you wanted to shop we always usually went to the Inland Center Mall. I am not sure why that is just the way it was. Maybe in the late 80s they should have kicked some of the looky loos out and maybe they would have attracted a spending crowd. I had a lot of fun days there though meeting up with schoolmates just talking to people we were loitering for sure.
on November 10th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
I’m a Latino who grew up with Central City Mall. I remember there were a lot of good times at the AMC Theaters and Walden. They should’ve made dress code for gangs. I don’t care if it was considered discriminatory. It’s simple: If you don’t look like a gangster, you can get in. Gangs in Berdoo have made my entire race look like filthy rats and roaches. If you have family who don’t have gang members then you shouldn’t be angry at what I’ve written. In other words: RAISE YOUR FAMILY WITH DISCIPLINE. It worked on me.
on November 15th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Accultly there not tearing it down..And why is everyone saying its dnagerous cause its not, there acculty alot of people eho go there and they have security guards everywere!!Its not in a bad area its the better part of town..And mike your right they should have a dress code and i think if they keeps those kind of people away more people wont be so scared to go in!!
on November 15th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
INLAND MALL DOES NOT ROCK THERESA CAUSE IT TOOK CAROUSEL MALLS BUISSNESS!!:(((((((