The Silver City Galleria opened twenty-eight years ago today, on March 1, 1992. That day, over 12,000 cars waited in 3-mile backups to roll into the Galleria's freshly paved parking lot. Locals and visitors alike gathered to see the new mall, shop, and join the festivities:
60-second Shopping Spree Contest, Wall-to-Wall Sound and Video (Lower Level near Sears)
Dixieland Band featuring Dick Johnson (Silver Spoons Food Court)
FUN WHFN live broadcast (Lower Level near Filene's)
Balloons the Clown (Guys and Gals)
20-ton Beauty and the Beast Sand Sculpture ground-breaking ceremony with Patriots Coach Dick MacPherson, Hugh Millen, and Irving Fryar (Center Court)
Miss America Carolyn Sapp (Sears)
Miss Massachusetts Melissa Bloemker (Sears)
You can read more about the Grand Opening, as well as the festivities that followed, on the history page.
New Photos!
To celebrate the 28th anniversary of the Grand Opening, here's a photo of the central mall, between Center Court and Filene's, taken by Peter Vanderwarker in 1992:
Visible on the upper level are Gap Kids, Hickory Farms, The Bombay Company, Babbage's, Tickers, World of Science, and Filene's. Au Bon Pain would soon open in the under-construction storefront to the right of Tickers. Glamour Shots, Tripp's Salon, Learning Express, Provisions, and the short-lived upper-level Customer Service Center are also on the upper level, out of view beyond World of Science.
Visible on the lower level are Lerner of New York, Weathervane, Vince's Baseball Cards & Comics (green awning), and Champs Sports. On the right, under the hanging ivies, is what I believe is the green neon sign for Lady Footlocker. Along the center of the central mall are kiosk for The Earring Tree and other vendors.
Corrections
Thank you to Jim Govoni, a former Cyber Station employee, who provided me valuable information about Cyber Station, Papa Gino's, and a number of Silver Spoons food court establishments. These updates are all on the directory.
We're on TV!
On Friday night, I had the pleasure of meeting Shiina LoSciuto from WPRI TV Providence at the Galleria and chatting about the mall's history. She was kind enough to feature this site on the segment—you can view it below if you weren't able to catch it live. Thank you, Shiina and WRPI, as well as everyone who has contributed to this site, for making us famous!