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Carson’s to close location at Circle Centre Mall

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A department store with many locations in the Midwest will be closing the one in downtown Indianapolis soon.

Bon-Ton Stores announced the closing of Carson’s at 47 locations in the country, all expected to close in early 2018. The closings include the store at Circle Centre Mall.

Bon Ton announced that the closings are scheduled to begin on Feb. 1 and run for 10 to 12 weeks.

Locations in Marion, Columbus, Elkhart and Anderson are slated to close as well.

Employees at the locations scheduled to close will be offered the opportunity to interview at other open stores.

Circle Centre mall timeline

April 25, 1979 — Mall developer Melvin Simon & Associates announce start of a study to connect L.S. Ayers & Co. and William H. Block Co. in a multilevel, enclosed shopping mall.

Jan. 15, 1980 — Mayor William Hudnut urges the private sector to get involved in developing a downtown shopping mall.

May 18, 1983 — Metropolitan Development Commission accepts Melvin Simon & Associates as mall developer.

May 17, 1989 — After years of battling over property for the mall, the city receives only one proposal from Simon & Associates to develop the 9-acre site.

October 1991 — Construction on the first phase of the mall, the underground parking garage, begins. Designs were changed to replace plans for a skywalk over West Washington Street at Illinois Street with a glass-walled, circular “Wintergarden”

January 1992 — A new mayor, Steve Goldsmith, put the mall project on hold until September 1993 to reduce the cost to the city.

Oct. 5, 1994 — Groundbreaking for the Artsgarden occurs.

Sept. 8, 1995 — The $320 million Circle Centre officially opens with 800,000 square feet over four floors, 100 retail stores, 20 places to eat, nine movie theater screens and 12,000 parking spaces within one block.

Oct. 31, 2006 — Parisian, in the former L.S. Ayres store, is sold to The Bon-Ton Stores and rebranded as Carson Pirie Scott in 2007. The name later was changed to Carson’s.

July 31, 2011 — Nordstrom, one of the orignial tenants of Circle Centre, closes. The company also announces its location at The Fashion Mall at Keystone will remain open and a new Nordstrom rack will open at The Shops at Rivers Edge on the north side.

Dec. 3, 2014 — The city Metropolitan Development Commission strikes a deal with Carson Pirie Scott to reduce its rent by $300,000 annually through Jan. 31, 2018.

Sept. 29, 2014 — The Indianapolis Star opens offices in a portion of the former Nordstrom store.

Jan. 31, 2018 — Carson’s announces it will close the Circle Center mall store.