Most of Cleveland's suburban municipalities began as a residential or "bedroom" communities whose residents commuted into the city each weekday, and a few started as preexisting towns shaped by early trade and industry. But one suburb, North Randall, was born in an entirely unique way – as a destination for thoroughbred horse racing. The economic history and center of attraction for North Randall has been revamped repeatedly over the past century. From 1908 to present day, the village has been dominated by horse racing tracks, a mall, and now an Amazon fulfillment facility. However, the first track, Randall Park, and a second, Thistledown, uniquely positioned horse racing as the most important economic engine for North Randall.
The Randall Park race track was originally part of the Forest City Farm which was established by Christopher F. Emery in 1883 as a horse breeding farm. The land for the track was bought in 1905 by Youngstown entrepreneurs and was later acquired by Bert Shank. He later sold 100 acres north of Emery Road to William B. Chisholm for his Thistledown Farms which was Randall Park’s neighbor. The remaining land of that later became the village of North Randall which was established in 1908 with Bert Shank as the first mayor. The village established its major industry in the breeding and training of trotting horses during this time. The racecourse of Randall Park was situated on the southeastern side of the city of Cleveland and served the racing enthusiasts from across the city and region.
Randall Park started as a trotting track for harness racing in 1908, supplanting the much older Glenville Race Track that folded that same year. The park had a one-mile oval-shaped track and a furlong turf course inside the oval. It also featured an open-air grandstand and clubhouse, with the grandstand being able to seat 5,500 people and the clubhouse an additional 2,000 people. The track had stables with a capacity of 650 horses. The track was worth $250,000 and it hosted the Grand Circuit that occurred in 1909. The event, which attracted a massive crowd of 17,000, was won by Emery’s trotter which was driven by Mayor Bert Shank.
Randall Park and Thistledown, which originally opened in 1925, both suffered a series of difficulties in the 1930s and ’40s, including a devastating fire at Thistledown in 1944. Sustained success was elusive until after World War II, when they finally attained a more durable national reputation. The tracks’ schedules grew considerably, and they hosted ever larger crowds to see major races. Thoroughbred racing had replaced trotting (harness) races in popularity, and Randall Park had converted to thoroughbred races in 1939. In 1951, Randall Park received a major upgrade that included grandstand expansion and miniature lakes, hedges, and landscaping in the center of its oval. The Ohio Derby, first run in the 1870s in Cincinnati, moved to a newly rebuilt Thistledown in 1953 and then to Randall Park in 1961.
Later, the Randall Park property was finally purchased by Youngstown-based developer Edward DeBartolo who also had ownership to the nearby Thistledown track and decided to transfer Randall Park’s dates there. Once that was finalized, the Randall Park land was rezoned commercial, and DeBartolo turned it into a shopping center. The $175 million Randall Park Mall opened on August 11, 1976, with 2 million square feet, over 200 stores on two levels, a modern look with unique marble floors, and a distinct constructed interior. This shopping center was intended to change the structure of the community by developing North Randall into a “super city.” DeBartolo initiated projects to create residential communities in which people not only could live but could operate their businesses as well. It eventually became one of the world's largest shopping complexes. The mall had a great run but closed in 2009. Newer malls and lifestyle centers, including Beachwood Place, LaPlace, and Legacy Village, all opened within a few miles between 1978 and 2003, plundering business from Randall Park. Online shopping was another factor around the world as to why malls were closing. Also, as the 2000s progressed, consumer habits shifted away from department stores all together. The rise in crime rates in area also played a factor. The village’s horse racing heritage entered a new phase in 2010 after the mall shut down, and it opened back up as a Thistledown Racino managed by an entertainment company. Businesses later began to fail as consumers lost the comfort in their safety to shop. It was reconstructed and later became an Amazon fulfillment center in 2018.
]]>On August 11, 1976, the Randall Park Mall opened its doors in the village of North Randall, Ohio. Built upon the site of the former Randall Park Race Track, this shopping complex embodied the essence of modernity and class with its unique marble flooring and distinctively structured interior. Randall Park Mall was originally constructed as a shopping center with over 200 stores on two levels. It contained more than two million square feet of space and eventually included five department stores. This immense center in North Randall was to become a “super city” in which individuals could not only shop but conduct their business and living affairs as well. Commissioned by the (Edward J.) DeBartolo Corporation, this expansive shopping center was intended to change the very structure of the greater community in which it was placed.
The man behind the massive undertaking to build Randall Park Mall was Edward J. DeBartolo, Sr. (1909-1994) of Youngstown, Ohio. Capitalizing upon the desire of 1960s American families for a quieter life away from the bustle of the big city, DeBartolo undertook projects to develop residential communities in which families could not only live, but also work and conduct their personal business as well. Through his building of massive shopping complexes all over the country, DeBartolo bolstered his economic legacy as one of Forbes’ wealthiest individuals in the United States in the mid-1970s, and shortly before his death was estimated to be worth roughly $850 million. Influenced by the famed mall architect Victor Gruen, DeBartolo based much of his designs off of original Gruen models, showcasing two-level shopping centers. Much like Gruen, DeBartolo also desired to build his shopping centers into larger cities, providing an area for consumers to conduct business, pursue recreation and even live. Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. was succeeded by his son, Edward J. DeBartolo Jr. in his business endeavors after his death in late 1994, and today, DeBartolo Holdings has moved away from the construction of public shopping spaces to pursue more private endeavors.
After three years of construction and periodic halts (including lawsuits and legal injunctions from the community) to the progress of construction, Randall Park Mall was finally ready to open its doors for business in the summer of 1976. Randall Park Mall’s grand opening was received with fanfare and jubilee as patrons and community members explored the expansive center’s endless options for shopping and enjoyed what, at the time, bore more resemblance to the grandiose manor of a famous Hollywood actor than a shopping mall. As one journalist reported, “It was more like Cedar Point than a shopping center. The thousands of Greater Clevelanders who poured through Randall Park Mall on its opening day were in a holiday mood.”
While the birth of Randall Park Mall accelerated the decline of downtown shopping and other local shopping complexes, it also provided a small, obscure community with the opportunity to become a leading contender in commerce, not just in Ohio, but across the United States as well. This enormous influence, however, would not last more than twenty years, and in an age in which development companies catered to the will of the ever-changing masses, Randall Park Mall quickly lost favor with not only the industry itself, but the local community as well. “It began to fall apart in the late 1990s. Two of the mall’s anchors, JCPenney and Dillard’s, left as part of a companywide downsizing triggered by big-box competition. Many of the smaller stores soon followed.” By 2009, this once vibrant and thriving shopping complex was closed, stripped down to the bare bones.” As crime rates within the surrounding North Randall and Warrensville Heights areas began to rise and businesses began to fail, North Randall was no longer a place to which the Cleveland masses desired to flock. Consumers lost confidence in the North Randall shopping complex as a safe, fun and engaging atmosphere in which they could conduct their recreational and business activities, and thus began to move their business elsewhere. Beachwood Place, which opened two years after the debut of Randall Park Mall, began to steal away wealthier customers as they sought shopping and entertainment in more affluent and safe areas. In 2014, less than forty years after the mall opened, work began on the demolition of the expansive shopping complex. The North Randall area continues to be affected by the legacy of Randall Park Mall and community members hope that future business endeavors will achieve the lasting success it failed to attain.
]]>