Initially hailed as the prototype of urban America, the Worcester Center Galleria now known as the Worcester Common Outlets first opened its doors on Thursday, July 29, 1971. Its huge open area and arched roof were supposedly modeled after the ancient Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, Italy, one of the architectural marvels of the ancient world (needless to say, Worcester Center was not a perfect copy). Two construction experts from New York and California called the project the finest shopping center they had ever seen in the United States.

Thanks, perhaps, to the failure to meet the original goal of 40,000 to 50,000 visitors per day, it didn't take long for pessimism over the Galleria's viability to set in. As early as 1973, the short-lived Worcester Post asked, Is Worcester Center a white elephant ? ..and the naysayers have had their way ever since.

Now, the Galleria has begun its march toward the wrecking ball. Before it goes, it seems apt to recall it in its inglorious glory, this place in the heart of our city that, like New York's Sixth Avenue, will always be known by its original name.

Billy Claire: Growing up in the suburbs, the Galleria held a fascination for all of us teenagers. Worcester Center Galleria was the place to go for the hippest clothes stores, cool places to eat and the hair salon for an aspiring rock star it had it all and it was always busy. It was, after all, the biggest and best mall anywhere in New England. Shoppers World [in Framingham] looked like a strip mall or a motel by comparison and in the 70s....