A Visit to Charlottesville’s Historic Downtown Mall
Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall has become THE destination for visitors to our area – right up there with Monticello and the University of Virginia. Many travelers mention similar pedestrian malls in Burlington, VT – the Church Street Marketplace – and Boulder, CO – the Pearl Street Mall – but the Downtown Mall holds a special place in the hearts of natives, residents and visitors alike.
One of the longest pedestrian malls in the country – eight blocks laid with brick and concrete and refurbished in 2009 – the Downtown Mall is home to an array of restaurants (many have outdoor seating, which is perfect for people watching in warmer weather), mostly locally-owned boutique shops, offices and art galleries, which host the ever popular monthly First Fridays open house events.
On Fridays in the spring, summer and fall, the Downtown Mall is also host to the long running Fridays After 5, founded in 1987, a weekly concert series that features local talent including favorites like Baaba Seth and Indecision.
Several side streets are also paved in brick and likewise closed to traffic. On the east, the Mall ends at the Charlottesville Pavilion, an outdoor concert venue that has hosted such stars as Sarah McLachlan, Alanis Morissette, Garrison Keillor, Lyle Lovett and Loretta Lynn, just to name a few, while the west end of the Mall features the Omni Hotel and an indoor ice skating rink that can also be switched over to a floored event space.
The renovated Paramount Theater is celebrating its 10th reopening anniversary and the historic Jefferson Theater was recently revamped and opened as a cutting edge musical venue.
The Downtown Mall’s history
The idea for the Mall started in 1959, when the Charlottesville Chamber of Commerce first entertained the idea of creating a walking mall downtown. In 1974, the city hired the pioneering landscape architect Lawrence Halprin to realize that vision and East Main Street was converted into a pedestrian mall in 1976. Today, the Historic Downtown Mall is celebrated as one of the most vibrant urban centers in small-town America.
It has been called the “Community Living Room,” and is home to more than 120 shops and 30 restaurants. Add in half-a-dozen art galleries, two historic theaters, multiple venues for live music, a movie theater, an ice skating rink — plus free concerts, “Art Walks,” and aSaturday farmer’s market, and, you get a diverse and entertaining place.
A wonderful mix of restored and renovated buildings that typified small “downtowns” throughout the country can now be seen by visitors as they enjoy shopping, dining and visiting along the brick-paved pedestrian area, with majestic oak trees overhead and flowing fountains.
In early June the Look3 festival installs large canvases of a current photography exhibit in the trees and visitors are encouraged to look up and enjoy the view.
For family fun, it’s easy to cool off in the ice park or take your children to the hands-on Virginia Discovery Museum. Convenient parking in nearby garages and parking lots, as well as free trolley service connecting the Downtown Mall to the University of Virginia along West Main Street make a visit to the downtown easy for visitors of all ages.
