The old Charlestown USA Outlet Mall was one of the first shopping centers in the Mohawk Valley. It offered a new kind of shopping experience for local residents, with dozens of stores and several restaurants in one location. But what made the mall truly unique was the building's origins. In this edition of Your Hometown, Cara Thomas shares the history of the former mall.
UTICA, N.Y. -- For more than 100 years, an old brick building has stood strong along Turner Street in East Utica.
Most people remember it as the former Charlestown USA Outlet Mall, but it's history goes back much further; back to 1902 when it was once a factory for Savage Arms.
"They were one of the major manufacturers of weapons for the United States military something which a lot of people probably don't recognize when they drive past the factory site today," said Brian Howard, the executive director of the Oneida County Historical Society.
The entire property spanned more than 30 acres, stretching into the town of Frankfort. Some of Savage Arms' most recognizable products were the Model 99 hunting rifle and the tommy gun.
"Most of the big money that came in for Savage came in the form of government contracts, especially during Word Wars I and II," said Howard.
By the 1950s, after the wars were over, Savage Arms vacated the property leaving it empty until Sperry UNIVAC, a computer company, moved in a few years later.
"Savage Arms was a busy place, had three shifts, had about 8,000 or 9,000 people working. Sperry UNIVAC the same thing, was a very busy plant," said Frank Tomaino, a trustee for the Oneida County Historical Society.
Sperry UNIVAC operated out of the location for nearly two decades and left in the late 70s. They sold the factory to a Utica businessman, Charles Gaetano, who decided to transform it into a completely different type of venue.
"Yes it is a bit of a stretch that a retail center would exist in that same location but it was a good solid site, it was on a major thoroughfare in our region, and the Charlestown Factory Outlet really left a mark on the area," said Howard.
The outlet mall became a place where local vendors would lease space to sell their products at a discounted price. In the 80s there were more than 50 businesses, two restaurants and an off track betting parlor operating out of the mall.
"There was a restaurant there called Charlie G's that was phenomenal. It had a nice big deck in the back, with the pond there, with coy fish in it and it was thriving in its days. And that's no longer the case," said Michael Cancilla, manager of Charlestown Mall of Utica LLC.
Once the mall closed in 1991, the building was leased to businesses, but never again received the same amount of maintenance and care. Cancilla says he originally had big plans to redevelop the property into loft apartments, but that dream may be out of reach.
"We had applied three years ago, four years ago, for the Restore New York grant," he said. "We did not get the grant, one of the reasons was it wasn't shovel ready."
But Cancilla says he's still holding out hope that some day a developer will see the site's potential and bring it back to it's former glory.
The former Charlestown mall has gotten a lot of attention lately. A group of SUNY Poly students explored the facility earlier in December and will be creating a short documentary on the history of the building. This is expected to be released soon.