One Day Shy Of 25, Owings Mills Mall Meets Its Future Competition

Twenty-five years ago on Saturday, July 30, the Owings Mills Mall's opening was billed as the lynchpin of major development in northwest Baltimore County.

Ironically, the county held its Thursday morning, just two days before the wanting mall's quarter-century birthday.

But any success of Metro Centre does not mean the mall must fold, County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said, adding that he always thought of Metro Centre as a project that might inspire the mall to reinvent and revitalize itself.

"I've urged the principal [owners] to start all over again," Kamenetz said, speaking of General Growth Properties, Inc. "The mall, in its current state, would not be able to compete with the Metro Centre."

There ought to be a synergy between the mall and Metro Centre, Kamenetz said. The success of one does not have to mean the downfall of the other, he said.

Brian DeLeonardo, president of the , said the two centers should complement each other. He said he hoped Metro Centre would help the owners of the Owings Mills Mall see what could be improved.

"It doesn't have to be a competition," DeLeonardo said.

Kamenetz said his plan would be to reconnect the mall and the Owings Mills Metro Station. A secluded path between the station and mall was closed after the 1992 slaying of a mall employee.

Kamenetz did not indicate he would like to see that same path reopened, but said the Metro Centre needed to be a "gateway" to the struggling mall.

County Councilwoman Vicki Almond agreed that Metro Centre and the mall must work as a pair in order to revitalize the under-utilized area around the metro station.

"The synergy needs to take place," Almond said. "And it will be our objective for a long time to come."

Such cooperation would be welcomed by area residents like Donna Bogash of Reisterstown. Despite the limited number of stores and the perception of violence at the mall, Bogash said she still shops there on occasion because it's closer than other options. The Metro Centre can only help the area, she said.

"I'd rather go there than drive to Towson for an outfit, or something," Bogash said. "It's ridiculous to skip this mall.

"If it [Metro Centre] brings things to Owings Mills, and the whole area, I'd much rather shop there than shop anywhere else. I think it'll be a good thing."