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| Editorial provided by The Curator from www.mall-hall-of-fame.blogspot.com
Up close shot to see the vintage cars as well. From the Charles Phoenix collection.
You can click on the image to see a larger view. The sixth shopping mall in Los Angeles County was the first to be freeway-adjacent. EASTLAND CENTER was built on a 49 acre parcel, 22.5 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, directly north of a newly-opened stretch of the San Bernardino Freeway.
Originally an open-air center, EASTLAND was designed by Albert C. Martin and developed by May Centers. It comprised 671,000 square feet, with a 5-level (365,000 square foot) May Company as its primary anchor. This store was the sixth location in the Los Angeles-based chain.
"May's Eastland" opened October 16, 1957 and was built in the grandest of ultra-modern style. A contemporary write-up described the following accoutrements; dramatic exterior design, bright, contemporary interior decor, sleek, silent escalators and elevators and complete air-conditioning of the interior spaces. A fallout shelter was accessed via the basement of the store.
EASTLAND CENTER was oriented on two levels. The mall proper comprised the Upper Level, which was accessed from the north parking area. The "Lower Esplanade" was beneath the Upper Level stores and faced, toward the south, onto a lower parking area.
The center's second anchor was a 2-level (102,800 square foot) W.T. Grant variety store; among the largest in the New York City-based chain. In addition there were Long's Drugs, See's Candies, and F.W. Woolworth.
The first twenty-seven stores had opened, with much fanfare, October 24, 1957. By mid-1958, there was a compliment of fifty-four inline stores and services, including those in an outparcel shopping strip, known at the time as "Avenue Shops".
This adjunct of the mall was situated in the northwest parking area. Its 42,000 square foot Hiram's supermarket gave Blue Chip trading stamps with all purchases.
The land surrounding EASTLAND CENTER was developed over the next decade. The Huddle Restaurant opened in 1958. There were also two across-the-road outparcel entertainment venues; the single-screen Eastland Theatre (which debuted in 1963) and Carousel Theatre In The Round, a live-performance house (in business by mid-1965).
EASTLAND'S first shopping complex competitor, PLAZA AT WEST COVINA, was also located in West Covina. It came inline during 1962. This was followed by PUENTE HILLS MALL, in the City Of Industry, which opened in 1974.
Grant's was shuttered in 1976, with its upper level made into a U-shaped concourse area, having storefronts on the north and south sides and a retail block at its center.
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