On the south side of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Drive (formerly Old World Third Street) and Wisconsin Avenue intersection sits 3rd St. Market Hall. This lively food hall is part of a massive, three city block long structure (from Plankinton Avenue, near where we started, to 4th Street, one block west) which was once home to "The Shops of Grand Avenue" -- an urban shopping mall. Today the building is being transformed into a mixed use destination facility with dining, entertainment, office space and residences. This project has played a significant role in the overall revitalization of Westown.

The eastern-most building, called the Plankinton Arcade, was built in 1915 as an entertainment center with bowling and billiards. It was built in the 15th century Italian Gothic style, featuring white glazed terra cotta, ornamental iron and grillwork, wide arcades on two levels, a glass skylit roof and a central rotunda. In the 1920s, significant modifications occurred which added office space and a reconstructed area for the W.T. Grant Store (since closed).

In the early 1980s additional redevelopment of the area occurred. The Shops of Grand Avenue (named after Wisconsin Avenue's previous name) opened as an indoor, urban shopping mall, with the Plankinton Arcade connected to the building at Old World Third Street by a second floor pedestrian walkway.

If you've crossed the street to get a better look, return to the north side of Wisconsin Avenue to continue our tour.