The impending closure of Sears at Chapel Hill Mall is spurring talks between Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan, and the mayors of nearby Cuyahoga Falls and Tallmadge. Horrigan says he has reached out to discuss what the future of the mall may be once Sears closes this spring. He says he also reached out to the mayors last year when Macy's closed its Chapel Hill store.
Akron last year began tearing down the long-dormant Rolling Acres Mall, but Horrigan says the two situations aren't really comparable.
“Rolling Acres finally got to a point where we were able to control it: but, obviously, we don't want that same direction for Chapel Hill. We still want it to remain a destination spot. The zoning up in that way is actually pretty good to allow a lot of different uses.”
The Sears closure leaves just one anchor at Chapel Hill, JCPenney, which invested in that location last year.
Mayor Dan Horrigan says he also plans to meet with the mall's owners soon to discuss the future of the property.
“There could be some other opportunities with other retailers that they’re trying to attract that we can help out with. We just want to make sure those lines of communication are open and if there’s help that we can provide. We are going to be doing some work on Howe Road with resurfacing and it is quite busy all of the time.”
Sears is also closing a location in Richmond Heights, part of more than 100 Sears and K-Mart closings nationwide.
