The 1976 Delmar Mall

From the State Register June 10, 1976

PROPOSED DELMAR MALL TO EMPLOY MORE THAN 1000

DELMAR - The huge shopping mall now on the drawing boards for location in the Town of Delmar on the Delaware side of the state line along the west side of Dual Highway 13 is expected to employ more than 1,000 persons when fully completed.

This assessment of the economic impact the proposed mall will have on lower Sussex County was made Tuesday by John Moore, Jr. of the Realtor firm of Callaway, Farnell and Moore of Seaford, which has compiled the real estate package of about 80 acres upon which the mall will be built. “the mall will employ far more people than are now living in Delmar, Delaware “ Moore said.

Moore said that would take a year or two for the sewer and water facilities to handle the mall to be completed by the Town of Delmar after annexation of the land involved is approved in a referendum. The property where the mall intends to locate runs from the dual highway west to the present town limits and north along the highway from the present Sussex trust Co. property for one half mile. Much of the property is now used as an airport for small planes.

The mall building itself to be owned and developed by Shopco, Inc of New York City will contain 597,000 square feet or more than 14 acres under one roof. This would make the Delmar mall far larger than the present Salisbury Mall in Salisbury, Md.

Moore said that options for leases cannot be signed until the formal annexation of land has been approved and the water and sewer facilities completed. However, it is believed that two of the nation’s largest retail chains have indicated interest in becoming leases in the mall.

The house bill sponsored by Rep. William Gordy (D Laurel) and co-sponsored by Senator David H. Elliott (R Laurel) amending the charter of the Town Of Delmar so that the annexation proposal could be voted upon immediately instead of within two years was passed unanimously last Wednesday , June 2, by the House of Representatives . It is expected that the bill would also be passed by the state senate

this week under a suspension of the rules.