East India Mall
This retail complex in the middle of downtown Salem was built between 1977 and 1979, contains space for fifty stores, three movie theaters, offices and restaurants. Situated in the Essex Street Mall, the building is a "forceful visual statement of the New Formalism, in that the roof-line is level, the arch motif is prominent, the principal facade is symmetrical, the column supports are thick and modeled" according to Tolles in his Architecture in Salem book.
In 1982, with the mall struggling for business, Sack Theatre Corp. opened a three-cinema/video game, parlor complex inside the East India Mall. This was a new venture for the Sack Corporation which intends to run so-called "art" films instead of commercial first-run movies.
The Parking Garage next to it was developed to be aesthetically linked to the mall. Accommodating up to 1,000 vehicles, the four level structure harkens back to the International Style architecture of the 1940's.
The East India Mall name was changed to Museum Place Mall.
See Also
Vertical File in Salem Collection - Museum Place Mall
Architecture in Salem by Tolles, p. 78-9
"East India Mall cinema-games complex offered" Salem Evening News, Jan. 27, 1982, p. 1
"Cinemas mark Salem mall's change of direction" Salem Evening News, Oct. 14, 1982, p.1
