Vintage photos of Twelve Oaks Mall

[bugs1739]

Hello,

I literally grew up with Twelve Oaks from the time it was new, through two significant renovations. I can tell you just about anything you ever wanted to know about it. I have a very photographic memory and a few old press photos from the late 70s. It has really changed over the years. I am not sure if there are character limits, so I will briefly describe how it has changed. If you want to know more, I would love to tell anyone who is interested whatever they want to know.

August 3, 1977: Mall Opens except for Lord & Taylor which I believe opened in 1978.

The mall had these original defining details:
-Large modern art sculptures in each court
-Mobile-like structures hanging from the ceiling
-Twelve Oaks didn't get the "octa-lift" elevator, but it was a pretty neat exposed hydraulic elevator that I used to watch go up and down all day. One of my first memories.
-Terrazzo flooring that, while dated in the 90s, would look very hip by today's standards. White with orange and brown accents. Was in very good shape, but some idiot decided to lay tile over it during the first renovation in 1996.
-A grand staircase in the center court, removed in 1996.
-An information booth with a beacon sign that was nearly two stories tall with the old chevron tree logo on it, and "information" in a Bauhaus style font.
-Grand "pit" in center court with green carpeting. Excellent for letting young kids run off their energy.

Twelve Oaks was designed, built, and intended for the clientele at the time, which was not upscale, but very family friendly. The mall repositioned itself as "upscale" in the late 90s.

What was changed in 1996 [[I guarantee the renovation was completed in '96, not '94):
-Second elevator added to center court, existing elevator "modernized" to match.
-Tile laid over terrazzo at end of renovation.
-Octagonal columns covered with mirror finish on second floor.
-Wooden/steel railings replaced with glass.
-Entrances rebuilt to "greenhouse" style vestibules.
-Entire interior painted a sterile white, over the antique white. Mall became non-smoking and ashtrays removed.
-Court-side seating areas filled in and furniture replaced.
-Center court "pit" filled in.
-Water tower painted to new copper scheme with new logo.
-Entrance signage replaced.
-Many trees removed, replaced with Starbucks.

I won't even get into the second [[2007) renovation since I think it is very disrespectful to the original design.

In 1994, someone flushed a bomb down a toilet in Hudson's and caused significant damage.

In 1997, on a very hot day, electrical switching equipment located in manholes beneath the parking lot blew up and knocked out power to the entire mall.

The only reason this mall has a water tower and others don't was due to the storage requirements for the massive fire sprinkler system. Novi was very rural when this mall opened and there was no municipal water supply North of I-96 at the time.

Again, if you ever wanted to know more, feel free to drop me a line and I'll share what I know. I am an architect, so I have always had a great respect for structures like this.

That's very interesting to know what Twelve Oaks looked like. I guess Twelve Oaks was different than Fairlane and Lakeside, did Twelve Oaks get the spiral-like staircase like other Taubman malls?