Comments on: Assembly Square Mall, Disassembled; Somerville, Massachusetts

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:05:39 +0000

When I was a child my dad worked in the old Central Steel building in late 50’s; As a young man, from 1979-1981, I worked for East Bay Development, HQ in the office building (formerly the First National Supermarkets HQ) next to the mall, who converted the Ford plant into the Assembly Square mall. As an architectural designer I was very involved in the redevelopment of this area. At the time, the renewal of the old Ford plant was state of the art. The Ford assembly plan was deigned by then, famous Detroit architectural firm Kahn & Associates. Upon its completion, the mall attracted popular stores and ultimately brought new life into the area. Over the years, as I drove past Assembly Square making my annual trip to the Cape and reminisced, it became sad to see the slow eroding of the area’s life. The area has so much promise . . .

By: kclarke7

kclarke7 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:34:51 +0000

I loved the roof/ceiling style of the enclosed mall area in this mall. I always remember that in the Sam Goody store, they had an open ceiling so the cool roofline continued right into the store.

I have a mall directory from this mall if anyone’s interested.

By: Tony

Tony — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 23:04:55 +0000

This mall was great back in the 80’s and even well into the 90’s. The tree huggers over in the ten hills section have been the biggest roadblock in this malls road to recovery. An agreement was finally reached about a year ago and demolition has finally begun on some of the surrounding area stores. The theatre and Circuit city are now closed. Good time, World Gym and Boston Paintball, were all finally closed and the building demolished. Pretty much the only things left are Home Depot, the old computer learning center building, and the green/yellow cab offices around back. I found it interesting when reading the agreement between the ten hills group and the city that one thing you will not see (and it’s a shame) is a fast food resteraunt. There will be no food court, no McDonalds, Wendy’s, Papa Gino’s or otherwise. Dunkin Donuts and the 99 are grandfathered in but you won’t see any others… unless someone smartens up and changes something! Just a shame.

By: Ron

Ron — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:58:40 +0000

I remember the mall when it first opened back around 1980, Jordan Marsh, was a great store, it was always packed on the w/e’s. Times have changes and malls are going away, but at least they’ve tried to bring it back hopefully it will all be devoped soon,, Does anyone know if the “tree huggers” are still fighting the renovations and changes?? They need to get a real life and move on….

By: Tiffany

Tiffany — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:20:44 +0000

Assembly Square was a highly successful mall in the 1980s. I remember it always being packed. The anchors, as mentioned in other entries, were K-Mart and Jordan Marsh. There was also a Kay Bee Toy Store, Casual Corner, the Weathervane and a Windsor Button Shop to name a few more.
The unique feature about this mall was that inside it was designed to look like a promenade. The store fronts had brick facades, there were street signs that marked the walkways (such as “Main Street”) complete with poles to hang from. The food court was called “Look and Eat” and had a big neon light face smiling down at you.
It was very special and attractive back then. It’s too bad that it became a dead mall. I remember that, too, walking around inside after most of the stores had closed up. The site looks like it’s doing well now, though, with it’s “big box” stores. But I miss the charm of the old Assmebly Square. I always got exctied as a little kid to see the blue water tower that had the mall’s name and logo on it off in the distance.
I just left this info for Deadmalls.com and thought I would add it here. Assembly Square was an awesome mall in the 80s.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 01:54:24 +0000

I will be visiting Boston next Sunday and will be staying right by the Assembly Square Mall. Can anyone tell me if the mall is still open or what stores are open. Thanks

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:11:48 +0000

Now ive never been to this mall but i have been to Building 19 here in Nashua NH and it doesnt surprise me one bit they didnt change the inside of that store. The Nashua store makes that one posted a top notch super great store. Probably the nicest one they ever had. They have had broken automatic doors for as long as i can remember and a slew of old shopping carts from defunct stores. The outside looks like it was at one time a nice store with good road access and a nicely laid out parking lot. But maintenance isnt in the cards for a store like that.

By: Iva Popa

Iva Popa — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 01:05:09 +0000

Hi, I”m a high school student doing a history project on Assembly square. Does anyone know someone who used to work in Assembly or knows anything interesting about it??? We would like to interview/talk to someone who has info about Assembly. IT would be really helpful please. Thanks, my e-mail is popiva05@yahoo.it . Please let me know if anyone can help me and my friends with our project

By: Christine

Christine — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:30:04 +0000

To the people posting their comments, if you grew up in Somerville in the 80s as I did, you would know what a nice mall it was. The people who left negative comments only saw what happened after the mall closed. It really was a nice place to go.

By: Jonah Norason

Jonah Norason — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 17:49:00 +0000

It used to be, though. Note the demolition of the interior corridors.