If I remember correctly, the skylights in the mall and the giant dome in the center court used to have neon in them, seems like they have been removed (the perimeter of the dome in the center court seems to have received a repaint as well). Even the Best Buy/Dicks wing (formerly the Lord and Taylor wing), had some neon in it, and that's the newest wing of the mall (circa 1999). If I remember correctly, the Lord and Taylor was actually quite huge, actually, the entrance was probably where the right side of the Best Buy facade was. Believe it or not, that had another Schindler MT going up to the parking garage, but was ripped out when the store closed and was converted to Dick's (one quirk I remember about that one was that there was an up button on the 2nd floor). Used to be towards the right side of the store (when looking in the store from the mall entrance). Aside from the neon removal and the painting around the Skylight (along with some new light fixtures in the giant dome), surprised the mall hasn't been blanded to death like most malls. The tiles are cool too, supposedly dating back to the original 1971 opening, and replicated in the 1993 (former) Sears wing.
I'm pretty sure I saw pictures of the neon era of Westfield Meriden on The Caldor Rainbow's Blog or Flickr account. Also, did Lord and Taylor have an MT when it was open?
@@baksidesteez Yep, that's the one I was describing. The Lord and Taylor was only one level, but had access from the rooftop parking level above, similar to the escalators going down to Dick's today (escalators are probably in the same spot, in fact, those could be the escalators from the original opening now that I think about it). I only took one ride on it ever (around 2002 or 2003), but I do remember quite a bit about it. It was a nice one at that, looked kinda similar to the one at Walt Whitman Shops's Lord and Taylor, even had a decorative plant in there. There was one odd quirk about it, and that was the call button on the 2nd floor (roof level) was pointing up! The only part I don't quite remember is the exact location. However, I think it was towards the right of the store (when looking inside from the mall entrance, probably in the approximate area where the TJMaxx entrance is today. When they closed and was converted to Dick's (2004ish), I could never find it again. At some point, they ripped it out...I guess they decided the main mall rooftop elevator (not sure if you rode that one) was enough to do the job...was a shame really. Here's a photo from approx 2005 about a year after it was converted to Dick's, but before they converted the entrance space into Border's...looks like that entrance I mentioned was still there towards the north side of of Dick's...if you look closely, looks like there's a small entryway on the parking deck level. I'm not sure if the elevator was still there at that point, but not in use, or was already ripped out when the store opened. Also provided is a floorplan of the mall circa 1999. Though no mention of elevator, you can see the entrance I had mentioned. 4.bp.blogspot.com/-RHApqHNBhb4/TYy5Jz5aq-I/AAAAAAAAXXg/GSjmk98uh5E/s1600/14_Westfield%2BMeriden%2Baerial.jpg 2.bp.blogspot.com/-y3pB-3p4S20/W9swNHAhvAI/AAAAAAABLK8/ELKiXv4FLDo-ndDBWvL9ios2acCqSxw5ACLcBGAs/s1600/12_Westfield%2BShoppingtown%2BMeriden%2Bplan%2B1999.jpg
@@NewEnglandElevators I usually don't ride parking garage elevators, so I didn't ride it. Interestingly enough, I went to T.J Maxx right after this video ended. It's kind of cool that I was walking right where the old elevator used to be! When you were talking about the elevator at Walt Whitman, were you talking about the internal one or Filechia's Bathroom?
@@baksidesteez The Internal one...come to think of it, most Schindlers from Lord and Taylor installs from the time seem to be designed similarly to each other...interestingly enough.
If I remember correctly, the skylights in the mall and the giant dome in the center court used to have neon in them, seems like they have been removed (the perimeter of the dome in the center court seems to have received a repaint as well). Even the Best Buy/Dicks wing (formerly the Lord and Taylor wing), had some neon in it, and that's the newest wing of the mall (circa 1999). If I remember correctly, the Lord and Taylor was actually quite huge, actually, the entrance was probably where the right side of the Best Buy facade was. Believe it or not, that had another Schindler MT going up to the parking garage, but was ripped out when the store closed and was converted to Dick's (one quirk I remember about that one was that there was an up button on the 2nd floor). Used to be towards the right side of the store (when looking in the store from the mall entrance).
Aside from the neon removal and the painting around the Skylight (along with some new light fixtures in the giant dome), surprised the mall hasn't been blanded to death like most malls. The tiles are cool too, supposedly dating back to the original 1971 opening, and replicated in the 1993 (former) Sears wing.
I'm pretty sure I saw pictures of the neon era of Westfield Meriden on The Caldor Rainbow's Blog or Flickr account. Also, did Lord and Taylor have an MT when it was open?
@@baksidesteez Yep, that's the one I was describing. The Lord and Taylor was only one level, but had access from the rooftop parking level above, similar to the escalators going down to Dick's today (escalators are probably in the same spot, in fact, those could be the escalators from the original opening now that I think about it). I only took one ride on it ever (around 2002 or 2003), but I do remember quite a bit about it. It was a nice one at that, looked kinda similar to the one at Walt Whitman Shops's Lord and Taylor, even had a decorative plant in there. There was one odd quirk about it, and that was the call button on the 2nd floor (roof level) was pointing up! The only part I don't quite remember is the exact location. However, I think it was towards the right of the store (when looking inside from the mall entrance, probably in the approximate area where the TJMaxx entrance is today.
When they closed and was converted to Dick's (2004ish), I could never find it again. At some point, they ripped it out...I guess they decided the main mall rooftop elevator (not sure if you rode that one) was enough to do the job...was a shame really.
Here's a photo from approx 2005 about a year after it was converted to Dick's, but before they converted the entrance space into Border's...looks like that entrance I mentioned was still there towards the north side of of Dick's...if you look closely, looks like there's a small entryway on the parking deck level. I'm not sure if the elevator was still there at that point, but not in use, or was already ripped out when the store opened. Also provided is a floorplan of the mall circa 1999. Though no mention of elevator, you can see the entrance I had mentioned.
4.bp.blogspot.com/-RHApqHNBhb4/TYy5Jz5aq-I/AAAAAAAAXXg/GSjmk98uh5E/s1600/14_Westfield%2BMeriden%2Baerial.jpg
2.bp.blogspot.com/-y3pB-3p4S20/W9swNHAhvAI/AAAAAAABLK8/ELKiXv4FLDo-ndDBWvL9ios2acCqSxw5ACLcBGAs/s1600/12_Westfield%2BShoppingtown%2BMeriden%2Bplan%2B1999.jpg
@@NewEnglandElevators I usually don't ride parking garage elevators, so I didn't ride it. Interestingly enough, I went to T.J Maxx right after this video ended. It's kind of cool that I was walking right where the old elevator used to be!
When you were talking about the elevator at Walt Whitman, were you talking about the internal one or Filechia's Bathroom?
@@baksidesteez The Internal one...come to think of it, most Schindlers from Lord and Taylor installs from the time seem to be designed similarly to each other...interestingly enough.
@@NewEnglandElevators It's kind of like how 90's JCPenney elevators have decorated outside doors.