Independence Mall headed for national historic registry

Independence Mall has been nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. Michael Emmons photo, courtesy of the University of Delaware Center for Historic Architecture and Design

Independence Mall, the Concord Pike shopping center modeled after Philadelphia’s Independence Hall and other historic structures, is on its way to joining the National Register of Historic Places.

“Everybody is super-excited,” said Joe Capaldi, manager of the North Wilmington shopping center and grandson of Emilio Capaldi, who designed and built it. “It’s a big deal.”

The nomination form calls it “the only known mall complex in the United States constructed as a replica of Independence Hall” in Philadelphia, with a “unique combination of elaborate design, persistent theme, and high integrity.”

“I was shocked!” said Roseanna Richards, Emilio Capaldi’s daughter and owner of the shopping center.

“But to be honest, it stirs up a lot of emotions because it has been a long and challenging road to keep the Mall thriving. To be nominated is not only an honor; it’s a privilege. I am proud to have the opportunity to preserve the vision of “AMERICANA” that my mother and father, the children of Italian immigrants, made a reality in 1964.

“The Mall has been a part of one of Delaware’s neighborhoods, and maybe when finally approved, it will be a part of national history. It is the only mall in the U.S. to have this designation. I owe a debt of gratitude for the recognition and to all who contributed to keeping the dream alive.”

The New Castle County Historic Review Board will vote on the nomination Nov. 6, with the meeting live-streamed. It must be approved by the Delaware State Review Board and the National Park Service before it will be on the National Register, County Council member Dee Durham explained.

“The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the nation’s historic places worthy of preservation,” according to the National Park Service. “Under federal law, the listing of a property in the National Register places no restrictions on what a non-federal owner may do with their property up to and including destruction unless the property is involved in a project that receives federal assistance, usually funding or licensing/permitting.”

The shopping center opened in 1964. Too many shopping centers “leave no impression on you after you leave them,” Emilio Capaldi told The Philadelphia Inquirer that year, talking about how often he would sketch Philadelphia’s historic sites. “They’re sort of long, gray lines with dits and dots of neon. Right? That’s why I wanted to build something that adds to the overall appearance of my city.”

He hoped “to build an Independence Mall in every state,” the nomination form notes, but he died in 1966, before even completing his second iteration, in Dover. (He did build Olde Colonial Village, a townhouse complex near Foulk and Naamans roads, with Colonial exteriors.)

Independence Mall has about 50 stores and offices, with one tenant, HearUSA, a fixture since the 1960s, Joe Capaldi said. Many others, like the Melting Pot fondue restaurant, have been there for more than 20 years.

The numbers mark key segments of the shopping center. Michael Emmons photo, courtesy of the University of Delaware Center for Historic Architecture and Design

Historic design

Independence Mall is one of three dozen replicas of the building where America began, with many on educational campuses, theme parks, and tourist attractions.

According to Tom Campbell, who blogged about them on TomLovesTheLibertyBell.com, it also houses one of 57 U.S. Treasury Liberty Bells.

Independence Mall also features “odes” to other Colonial-era Philadelphia buildings, including Library Hall, Carpenter Hall, Congress Hall, and Old City Hall, according to the nomination form.

It is next to Lombardy Hall, a National Historic Landmark that was the home of Gunning Bedford Jr., one of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence for Delaware.

Catherine Morrissey, associate director of the University of Delaware Center for Historic Architecture and Design, said she and Betty Hatch, then a county planner, came up with the idea to nominate Independence Mall several years ago.

One reason: It’s the “grandest” example in Delaware of complexes evoking Early American architecture and patriotism. The nomination then ticks off other examples whose designs have been lost by later renovations, including Fairfax Shopping Center just to the north, Liberty Plaza near Newark, Peddler’s Village in Christiana, Powder Mill Square in Greenville, and Peoples Plaza in Glasgow.

Over the years, the design of Independence Mall has generated criticisms and compliments.

In “Buildings of Delaware,” W. Barksdale Maynard quotes the American Institute of Architects Delaware calling it “a cheap commercial imitation” and a “mishmash.”

Maynard himself suggested that the “Disney-like design blended high and low culture in a way that anticipated postmodernism.”

After shopping there in the 1960s, art historian John D. Morse became an ardent fan, Campbell wrote, then quoting Morse’s News Journal review. “As I looked at it, melodious chimes in the tall tower struck five o’clock above the voices of busy shoppers and the shouts of children. It all amounted to an aesthetic experience. And at a shopping center! I forgave its phoniness, then and there.”

Ken Mammarella

some info