Malls and Theaters

This was an outdoor shopping center in Livonia, Michigan, United States, a suburb of Detroit. The center is located at the southwest corner of Middlebelt Road and Plymouth Road, approximately one mile south of I-96. Wal-Mart and Target serve as anchor stores.




From 1959 until 2004, a shopping mall called Wonderland Mall (previously Wonderland Center)[1] operated on the site. Originally an outdoor shopping center, Wonderland Mall was enclosed and expanded in the 1980s (with a second renovation in the late 1990s), although loss of major anchor stores and competition from nearby Westland Center caused Wonderland Mall to decline, eventually being classified as a dead mall. The old center was closed in 2004 and demolished a year later for construction of the newer shopping center.

One of the last Detroit-area theaters built with a full stage and orchestra pit, the Mai Kai could seat over 1400 and decorated in Polynesian style. it had all the most up-to-date amenities of a 60s-era movie house, including both 35mm and 70mm projectors.

Quo Vadis Entertainment Center, Westland, Michigan, 2007. The movie theater sits long shuttered and closed to the public since its closure in 2002.

Livonia Mall opened its doors to shoppers during 1964, and was the second mall to be constructed in Livonia. The mall was developed by Jack Shenkman as an outdoor mall, with Sears and Crowley's as anchor stores. At the time of its opening, Detroit's suburbs were expanding, and new shopping malls were being developed in these suburbs. Livonia already featured one such mall in Wonderland Center (later Wonderland Mall), which opened in 1959, was enclosed and expanded in the mid-1980s, and closed in 2004.

The Terrace sat around 1200 and was designed by Ted Rogvoy, who also was responsible for area theaters like the Mercury in Detroit and the Penn in Plymouth. It was designed in 'Chinese Garden' style, with minimal interior decor, though its canopy marquee was one of the largest ever built in the state, at 52 feet long. Also, its screen was enormous, as well, measuring 59' by 27'.The Terrace originally was operated jointly by the Wisper and Wetsman and Suburban Detroit Theatres chains. In the early 70s, the auditorium was twinned, and it became the Terrace 1-2. In the 80s, it was turned into a quad, when taken over by the Cinemark chain, and renamed the Cinemark Terrace 4. The Terrace closed, and was later converted into an auto showroom for a local dealer.

Ford Wyoming is the worlds largest Drive In - I've posted the link at the top of the page.