Cedar Knoll Galleria, later known as Kyova Mall, is a former shopping center under redevelopment near Ashland, Kentucky.
History
The Zamia Corporation opened Cedar Knoll Galleria on November 8, 1989, 12 9 shortly after the nearby Ashland Town Center held its own ribbon cutting on October 19. 12 Cedar Knoll was anchored by Sears, Stone & Thomas, Phar-Mor, and K-Mart with room for two anchors. Other tenants included Rex TV and Appliances, Jone’s New York, and Pollock’s Jewelry. The food court featured The White Mountain ice cream parlor, Luca’s Pizza, and Pretzel ‘s-Plus. At its height, the mall boasted an occupancy rate of 69%.
Meijer studied the possibility of locating at Cedar Knoll Galleria between 2001 and 2003, completing several architectural renderings at a cost of $30,000 to $40,000 each. 11 Target was also interested in locating at the mall, but the county’s reluctance of issuing tax incentives or breaks prevented both Meijer and Target from locating in the region.
In 2002, Phar-Mor closed all of its stores in the southern United States, which included its location at Cedar Knoll. K-Mart closed their store later in the year, which was replaced by Artrip’s Market and a flea market in late 2004.
In 2004, Zamia went bankrupt and its creditors sold the company and its properties at auction. 9 Reyton Cedar Knoll LLC purchased Cedar Knoll Galleria from Zamias, who rebranded it as Kyova Mall, taking cues from the state names of Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia for the new title. 11 Major repairs to the roof and interior concourse were completed.
In June 2005, discussions began about the construction of a movie theater in one of the never-completed department store footprints in the rear of the mall. 11 Indiana-based Great Escape Theatres announced on May 11, 2006, that it would construct a movie theater in the former Phar-Mor department store. 3 Work would include demolition of 11,000 square feet of the mall concourse and the construction of an enclosed atrium to give the theater an “indoor and outdoor feel.” Work began on July 21, but Great EscapeTheatres backed out of the deal on July 24, giving development rights to Phoenix Theatres. 3 4 Phoenix Theatres 10 opened on May 18, 2007. 5
In November 2005, Steve and Barry’s replaced both Artrip’s Market and the flea market. 11 The sportswear chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 8, 2008, and entered into Chapter 7 liquidation on November 27.
In a bid to attract restaurants to Kyova Mall and its out-lots, Kyova Mall began a petition in 2007 to allow alcohol to be served in restaurants that made at least 70% of their revenue from food sales and had at least seating for 100 people. 6 7 The petition received nearly 6,000 signatures from registered voters which allowed it to go to a county-wide vote. The measure to allow certain restaurants to serve alcohol passed by with 67% confidence on May 22.
On May 11, 2014, Sears closed 13 followed by Elder-Beerman in mid-2018 as part of a company-wide liquidation. 1 Rural King, offering farm, camping, and hunting supplies, opened in the former Steve & Barry’s anchor space in August 2015. 10
On July 14, 2021, Kyova Mall was sold to a collective comprising of Jason and Elisabeth Camp, the Glockner family, and the county for $8.5 million, and the 92-acre property was rechristened as Camp Landing Entertainment District. 14 It was proposed to redevelop the nearly closed mall with Malibu Jack’s, an indoor theme park within the former Elder-Beerman space, a county-owned 3,000 to 5,000-person convention center in the former Sears store, a 15,000 to 20,000-capacity sports and concert arena, a 300-room hotel, a 100-unit apartment complex, a bourbon and/or beer distillery, eight to nine restaurants, and a revamped movie theater. Rural King would remain open and unmodified.
It is expected at total build-out that $30 million will be invested at Camp Landing with 800 jobs being created. 14
As part of the development of the convention center, the county purchased the Sears portion of the mall, a 50-foot breezeway, and two acres of the parking lot. 14 The project is financed through an $11 million bond, of which $2.5 million went toward purchasing the property with the remainder going toward improvements to the building.
Malibu Jack’s opened with bumper cars, go-carts, laser tag, miniature golf, a 4D motion theater ride, an arcade on December 17. 15 It will eventually include a bowling alley and a roller coaster.
Tenants
| Tenant | Opened | Closed |
|---|---|---|
| Malibu Jack’s | Dec. 2021 | |
| KYOVA 10 Theatre / The Cinema at Camp Landing | 2011 | |
| Rural King | Aug. 2015 | |
| Steve and Barry’s | Nov. 2005 | Nov. 2008 |
| Artrip’s Market and Flea Market | 2002 | 2004 |
| Phar-Mor | 1989 | 2002 |
| Elder-Beerman | 1989 | Jul. 2018 |
| Sears | 1989 | 2014 |
| Arcade | ||
| Bingo Halls | ||
| Coach House Gifts | ||
| Dollar Tree | ||
| Extreme Air | Aug. 2016 | Aug. 2019 |
| Faith Christian Store | ||
| Fashion Bug | ||
| GNC | ||
| Kay-Bee Toys | ||
| Kay Jeweler | ||
| Lane Bryant | ||
| Monfried Optical Superstore | ||
| New York Company | ||
| Pollock’s Jewelry | ||
| Rack Room Shoes | ||
| Resolutions | ||
| Rex TV/Appliance | ||
| Stars and Stripes | ||
| Things Remembered | ||
| The Italian Oven |
Gallery
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Further Reading
Sources
- Adkins, Andrew. “Elder-Beerman to close at KYOVA Mall.” Daily Independent [Ashland], 19 Apr. 2018.
- Huntington News.
- Fields, Ben. “Work under way for new theater at Kyova.” 24 July, 2006 Daily Independent (Ashland). May 24, 2007.
- “PHOENIX THEATRES TO MANAGE NEW MULTI-PLEX THEATRE IN CANNONSBURG, KY.” Phoenix Theatres.
- “New Kentucky theater boasts 10 screens, stadium seating.” 17 May, 2007 Ironton Tribune. May 17, 2007.
- Fields, Ben. “Landslide.” 23 May, 2007 Daily Independent (Ashland). May 24, 2007.
- Fields, Ben. “All precincts but one vote ‘yes’.” May 23, 2007 Daily Independent (Ashland). 24 May, 2007.
- Hart, Kenneth. “Kyova Mall theater to open Friday.” 13 May, 2007 Daily Independent (Ashland). 29 May, 2007.
- Fields, Ben. “Mall bustles as theater opens.” 21 May, 2007 Daily Independent (Ashland). 29 May, 2007.
- Preston, Tim. “No.1 Rural King taking Kyova Mall space.” Daily Independent [Ashland], 30 Apr. 2015.
- Fields, Ben. “Kyova’s Blair: ‘I needed a break’.” 2 April, 2007 Daily Independent (Ashland). 29 May, 2007.
- “Dow Jones surges to high amid interest-rate optimism.” 4 Oct., 1989 Herald-Leader (Lexington). 29 May, 2007.
- “Sears Reportedly Closing KYOVA Mall Store.” WSAZ Newschannel 3. N.p., 10 Feb. 2014. Web. 25 July 2014.
- Snyder, Aaron and Henry Culvyhouse. “Boyd ready for blast-off: Details of multi-million-dollar project unveiled.” Daily Independent, 16 Jul. 2021.
- Romans, Charles. “‘Always sunny and 72 degrees’: Malibu Jack’s opens to public at Camp Landing.” Daily Independent, 19 Dec. 2021.
9 Comments
Add Yours →It has a burger King outside that I l would visit. The movie theatre was good. And the rural king was fun. A lone comic book store that sells mostly collector toys had a few neat novelties. Wilma’s was selling dresses and heels. A few small stores. Lot’s of parking space. Mall is deserted almost. I wish Some One would put a Taco Tico in there. And maybe have a best buy or some sort of toy store and some good clothing shops. But now it is mostly a place to go power walking or to the Library. I have not been there since Corona Virus.
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We went there to rent a space today and they quoted us outrageous price for a space! I see now why the mall is empty!! 12.00 a square foot for a mall with onlt one store. Amazing, there is even a empty store there that has cats running loose in there and the management office smelled like cat piss!
That is horrendous! I moved here when I married 9 yrs ago–there were lots of empty stores in the town itself that have stayed empty to this day not just the mall. I bought my wedding gown at a store in this mall. It is shocking how fast it went down in my time here. I now understand why there are so many empty stores if this is how the owners deal with it. Ive never understood why letting something stand empty year after year and having to pay property taxes and ins on said empty place was better than being reasonable on making deals to get someone in the property to liven up this ghosttown…ive got ideas–but no money.
It’s actually Lerner New York that used to be there and not Jones New York. I was the manager of that store for two years. Used to be a nice mall to work in.
The Kyova Mall needs to clean up the outside. Weeds grow everywhere, and the parking lot is a disaster with pot holes everywhere! No business wants to locate to a place like that.
Why not look for stores like Big Dogs, Nike, Gap, Baby Gap, Levis , like the malls in Tennessee it Virgina Beach, they could benefit from these kind of stores to bring the mall back too life….
Is the mall up for sale again? Are they trying to actively seek new vendors? Why not look to companies that are not currently there. what about high end stores, Ann Taylor, Coach, places like this, I feel this area could support and needs this.