The Legend of the Gun-Shaped Mall
In Erie, Pennsylvania, there is a shopping mall shaped like a gun. This architectural flourish, however, is not readily apparent from inside the mall. To visualize Millcreek Mall’s weaponized consumerism, one must rely on aerial views via Google Maps. According to urban legend, the mall, built in 1975, achieved its unique shape thanks to a rather dubious backstory. In his essay “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere,” James M. Russell brings that backstory to life:
Millcreek, what James Howard Kunstler defines as “The Geography of Nowhere,” is a suburb of dreary Erie. The Millcreek Mall acts as the center of this soulless place. Youngstown, Ohio’s William Cafaro, arguably the King of Strip Malls (if regional goodfella Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. didn’t wear the crown), built this palace of conspicuous consumption in the shape of a firearm aimed at city hall or the courthouse. There’s more to this suburban mafia myth. My father told me a farmer on part of the land targeted for mall development held out and his barn succumbed to fire. “Arson,” my dad insisted. Ill-begotten gains rooted in a godforsaken cul-de-sac. Home.
Whether William Cafaro purposely built Millcreek Mall in the shape of a gun to send a message to city hall may never be known. But I would imagine the mafia works in far more direct ways than intimidation through architecture.