Dutchess Mall

The Dutchess Mall opened during 1974 as the first mall in Dutchess County.[3] The mall occupied a portion of a site used during the American Revolutionary War by the Fishkill Encampment and Supply Depot, which has been listed on the National Register of Historical Places since Dutchess Mall's opening.[4] The Fishkill Encampment was previously scheduled for conversion to a national park, but the plan was rejected.[5] Original anchors of the mall included Mays and Luckey Platt, two local department stores;[6] other major tenants included Flah's (another local department store)[6] and Drug World (a pharmacy), as well as Radio Shack (an electronics store) and Waldenbooks (a bookstore).

Former Jamesway/Mays store in 2004

Mays, which closed following their 1982 bankruptcy, was replaced with Gaynes.[7] Gaynes, in turn, was converted to a Jamesway discount shop during 1988, which closed following their liquidation in 1995. Luckey Platt closed in the 1980s and was replaced with Service Merchandise, which closed on December 24, 1996, and relocated to the South Hills Mall nearby.[3] The former Service Merchandise was soon replaced with the Dutchess Flea Market. With both anchor stores gone, the other shops began ending operations as well, and by 2001 only the flea market remained.

For several years, Dutchess Mall was the only mall serving its area; however, it was often unable to attract many well-known tenants, due to rumors of a larger mall being built nearby. The rumored mall, which would have been anchored by Macy's, was never built.[6] Because it could not attract stores easily, and because the anchor stores had changed, the Dutchess Mall was quick to lose tenants, eventually replacing a large portion of its retail space with a satellite campus of Marist College. Other problems of the mall included an outdated mall design; competition from the nearby Poughkeepsie Galleria and South Hills Mall; and the beginning of big box type retail.[3]

In 1999, plans were announced to convert the mall into a business community named Hudson Valley Metro Centre. The project would have included office tenants, a recreational facility, child care, and restaurants.[8] Due to high startup costs, the plan was abandoned,[9] and by 2001, the mall was sealed off entirely except for the flea market, which remained open. Two years later, a group of designers from New York devised a plan to convert Dutchess Mall into a women's prison. This plan was one of the finalists in "Dead Malls", a competition created by the Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design.[10] This plan, however, was not realized.

Interior of Dutchess Flea Market, 2004.

Finally, after several years of vacancy, the mall was demolished for a Home Depot, which opened on July 5, 2006.[1] Only the mall building itself was demolished. The former Jamesway and Service Merchandise buildings were left intact.

Home Depot isn't the only store still open, as there is a McDonald's and a Citizen's Bank branch occupying space in the lot as well. In 2007, Dutchess Mall was the subject of a documentary named Fish Kill Flea; the documentary's emphasis was the mall's flea market.[11] By 2014, the old Jamesway had become the new home of Dutchess Marketplace, a flea market with a variety of vendors. Behind the property is a nine hole golf course.[12] By the end of 2019, the Dutchess Marketplace closed.[13] In August 2019, Dutchess Community College announced plans to open a campus at the site of the former mall, in the former Jamesway building.[14] As of February 2021, this new campus of Dutchess Community College has been finished, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the new campus has not yet opened.