Southwest Gate (2016)
Macon, Georgia, U.S.A.
Commercial, Retail
Southwest Gate is a new resurrected version of the former Westgate Mall in Southwest Macon. Earlier, I did a project called Westgate Renaissance, but that started to become crap! So, Instead I looked up images from the 1961 version of the mall, and decided (after so many useless ideas) to design a shopping plaza that looks like the Westgate Mall. The butterfly symbol that the mall holds a sign of revival.
The mall would consist of tenants(possibly the tenants left over at the current shopping center), two anchors, accessories, administration, and a two-story auditorium. Also like from the planned
image of the 1961 mall, I placed a water fountain.
The image(above) just shows a diagonal view of the plaza. Anchor A is at the left end, where Colonial Stores, Gilberg's, and Cloth World were located.
The image(above) is a clear shot at Anchor B, which many would say be the location of Big Apple, Piggly Wiggly, and Scotty's.
The image(above) is the entrance to the administration and accessories lounge. To the right is the back of the auditorium. (The auditorium would've been where JJ Newberry's, Burlington, and Key Wholesale Distributors would've been)
The plaza is enclosed from the inside, with the exception from the two anchors and the admin/access entrances. To get to the tenants/auditorium, One would have to go inside the plaza unless they went in from rear entrances.
If this project were to happen, The former-OfficeMax/Stacy's (Last I checked was going to be an American Freight Furniture) would remain standing. Also I would keep the bank that was in front of where Walmart is located.
As for the Walmart location, and the strip next to it, It would be demolished (of course) and several tree's would be planted to try and believe nothing used to be on the site.
This is almost the same tactic that Macon Mall had pulled in 2011, which was getting the place to form the way it did early on. Macon Mall had a 4 anchor facility, but a two anchor wing was added to the east part in 1997. Due to decline and consolidation, that same wing was torn down around 2011-2012, and the mall became a 4 anchor facility again.
On the flyer above, I have the site plan for the new shopping plaza. I also have comparing images of the new plaza and the old Westgate Mall
Short story about Westgate Mall; The mall opened back in 1961, but declined around the late 1970s. In the 1980s, The mall became an outlet mall with Walmart (and a tenant strip) being added to where Colonial stores was located. That plan sucked, so in 1994, they demolished the original mall (except for Walmart), and built a set of Major anchors like Home Depot, Burlington(from the old mall), Shoe Carnival, Media Play, Office Max, and PetSmart. The mall became Westgate Shopping Center. Walmart and all the Major anchors left the shopping center but a few small tenants remain in the current shopping center. Burlington was the last to leave, which was back in Fall 2015.
Here is a 360 degree video of the entire plaza. The video shows the entire new building from the outside.
Southwest Gate is a prop of historical pain. The mall/shopping center died not once, not twice, but three times. It's very upsetting to once again see an eyesore. But this project makes me believe it would soon change, and once again be brought back.
