Comments on: Kennedy Mall; Dubuque, Iowa

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:39:30 +0000

Elevator to Nowhere:

The elevator to nowhere was originally in the center of the 2-story Rosheks Department store…which moved from the current IBM building on Locust Street in 1970 out to he mall.

When Rosheks closed, Armstrongs tried to fill the entire space but couldn’t. When Armstrongs went bankrupt, the orignal front of that space was pushed back to the escalator, a distance of 100 feet or so, extendding the public hallway, while creating smaller ‘anchor’ spaces similar to the other 3 ends of the ‘X’ shaped mall that Sears (and later Younkers) could successfully fill.

The ground floor space is more desirable, so you have the wierd situation of Sears / Younkers with side x side two story locations instead of one on the ground floor and one above.

My entire family shopped almost nowhere BUT the very ‘happening’ Kennedy Mall in the 70s and 80s. I remember this escalator well. The family loved Rosheks, but mom had a thing about escalators and would never use this one. She always used an elevator in the back of the store while we rode what’s now the elevator to nowhere.

By: Sally

Sally — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:05:26 +0000

also with the renovating… there is a coffee shop in the middle of the mall and also they have re-done the parking lot and the main entrance.

By: Bobby

Bobby — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 20:39:25 +0000

Where was the Woolworth? Did it become the food court?

By: sally

sally — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:42:02 +0000

steve and barrys went out of business and is now for sale. and the escalators are still there but there is childrens play area in the big empty space just before it.

By: Jonah Norason

Jonah Norason — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 20:12:29 +0000

With the remodeling, what happened to the “escalator to nowhere”?

By: Max

Max — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:46:16 +0000

I am pretty sure this (http://mallsofamerica.blogspot.com/2006/07/kennedy-mall.html) is a picture of what the center court fountain used to look like in the 70’s – 80’s. I grew up with the mall in that time period and used to love that fountain. Sad to see it is no longer present.

By: Joe Bell

Joe Bell — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:04:40 +0000

Hi there. I just came across this thread of comments on Kennedy Mall, and felt compelled to give everyone an update. My company owns and operates the mall, and is now into Phase 2 of a renovation that began last year. That first phase created a much brighter, comfortable interior for the mall. There was the addition of new lighting, flooring, skylights, soft-seating areas, and on Saturday, June 21, a children’s soft play area opens for business. Sponsored by The Finley Hospital, it’s not just a lot of fun, it also incorporates information about healthy lifestyles. On the outside there will be an all-new facade and renovated parking lots. All in all, it’s a VERY different mall than the one portrayed in the original posting. I’ll try to send along some current pictures.

By: Danielle

Danielle — Thu, 01 May 2008 17:18:46 +0000

well, now there is only one coach house, and it looks alot nicer than the other 2 that were there. no new stores have entered and that is rather disappointing. But the mall is not dead. As an employee, we still have good amount of bus….. except in the summer

By: Kennedy Mall Hater

Kennedy Mall Hater — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 05:51:24 +0000

I have lived in Dubuque all of my life and have many times seen stores come and go. Every time a new store comes into the mall, I hope and pray that it will be something other than a “Valley of the Kings” (a nick-knack store) or a “Merle Norman” (Cosmetic Store that rarely has customers in it.) I find myself driving to Davenport or Iowa City, just to do some decent shopping. A few years ago, I worked at Sears and got many complaints from out-of-towners about the esclator leading to ‘nowhere.’

It was mainly for the use of Sears, because the Younkers next to Sears had an esclator inside of the store leading to the second level. Last year, Kennedy Mall began remodeling, and I hoped that they would add some interesting stores…all we got was carpeting and skylights in the center of the mall.

If coming to Dubuque to go to the mall, please think twice…there really isn’t much here.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:10:46 +0000

The escalator in the Kennedy Mall was in the middle of the Armstrong’s Department Store. When Sears was added the old retail store was cut in half on each side of the Armstrong’s. The old store entrance was removed and the concourse was extended all the way to the escalator. We used to take the escalator up in Armstrong’s to see Santa as a kid.