Wheaton Plaza in 1975

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cgoodwin22 said:
A member of the Wheaton Plaza facebook page posted a picture of the water fountain at Wheaton Plaza:

1509065_10203326666477419_808712082_n.jpg
Click to expand...


Great photo. Thanks for posting it. This is likely an early photo of the fountain, judging by the clothing worn by the people.

The fountain was in a location known then as "Mall Central" or "Mall Center". The main entrance to Wheaton Plaza would be immediately to the left in the photo.

The photo faces East toward one of the two story "End Stores", Woodward and Lothrops (aka Woodies). Today this is a J. C. Penny's store.

Behind the photographer would be the area where the girls were seen near the Orange Bowl Pizza take out and beyond that, the other End Store, Montgomery Wards (now a Target store occupies the Wards space)

The Fountain marked the area of a "T" junction, just to the viewer's right in the photo. This was known as the "Plaza South" section as indicated in the sign.

Note the overhead covering of the fountain area and that the rest of the avenue is open to the weather, except for covered walkways on either side, close to the shops.

It was at or near this fountain that the Easter Bunny display was located, and where Sheila Lyon was seen by her brother Jay, and by another 13 year old boy who knew her.

Note that the fountain in this photo has a circular railing around it and a metal structure in the middle of it. A previous photo posted does not have any metal in or around the fountain.
 
Great photos of Wheaton Plaza in 1978. Thanks for posting them.

You can see in one photo that when it rained, the whole avenue got wet.

Also, some great photos of the stores and of the planters between them.

It was on one of these planters that the Tape Recorder Man was reported to be sitting and "interviewing" Sheila and Kate shortly before they went missing.

Wheaton Plaza was (and is) a continuously changing place, with businesses coming and going, changing location, etc. It seems that the Orange Bowl Pizza take-out was no longer there in 1978. It would have been located between Hot Shoppes Cafeteria and the Peoples Drug Store in these 1978 photos.

The photo showing Hot Shoppes on the left was very close to the entrance to Montgomery Wards, which would have been immediately behind the photographer. To the left is a short walkway which went to the movie theater.

I believe that the Hot Shoppes business was NOT in this location in 1975, but rather at the far end of the mall near Woodies, with an entrance to the outside facing University Blvd. and that some other business was in the pictured location in 1975.
 
Richard said:
Great photos of Wheaton Plaza in 1978. Thanks for posting them. ...

Wheaton Plaza was (and is) a continuously changing place, with businesses coming and going, changing location, etc. It seems that the Orange Bowl Pizza take-out was no longer there in 1978. It would have been located between Hot Shoppes Cafeteria and the Peoples Drug Store in these 1978 photos.

The photo showing Hot Shoppes on the left was very close to the entrance to Montgomery Wards, which would have been immediately behind the photographer. To the left is a short walkway which went to the movie theater.

I believe that the Hot Shoppes business was NOT in this location in 1975, but rather at the far end of the mall near Woodies, with an entrance to the outside facing University Blvd. and that some other business was in the pictured location in 1975.
Click to expand...

I would like to correct the above post regarding the location of Hot Shoppes Cafeteria.

The photo was actually taken from the origional fountain location (also called Mall Center), facing somewhat north east, and NOT from Montgomery Wards as I mistakenly stated.

Hot Shoppes was just to the right of the main entrance to the mall (going out) and very close to Mall Center. As I had stated correctly, it was closer to Woodies than to Wards.

Woodward and Lothrop (Woodies) was the two story end store at the East End of the Mall, and Montgomery Wards was the two story store at the West End of the Mall.

It would have been very close to Hot Shoppes that the Easter Bunny display was located, and it was near here that Sheila's brother Jay and another boy saw her on 25 March 1975.

In fact, I would conclude, after viewing all the photos of the 1978 MG show at Wheaton Plaza that the fountain had been removed and paved over by that time.

If you look at the photos linked below, you will see that the blue and white car is sitting right where the fountain used to be. Right behind it is the main entrance to the mall with Hot Shoppes to the right (In first photo) and Gallenkamp Shoes to the left (second photo)

Note: Gallenkamps may have been called Edwards Shoes in 1975.

LINK:


https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/t1/1186869_10203343148329455_736379899_n.jpg


https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1/1966845_10203343155689639_1593522565_n.jpg
 
Looking at the below linked photo from the 1978 Wheaton Plaza MG Show, one can see the row of stores extending west from the Main Entrance/Mall Center toward Montgomery Wards.

The first store on the left of the entrance is Gallenkamps (Possibly Edwards Shoes in 1975), then there is Peoples Drug (also there in 1975) beyond that are the restrooms and then another Shoe Store.

I cannot make out the names of the other stores beyond that, but it was between that seond Shoe Store and Wards (same row as Peoples) that the Orange Bowl Pizza take-out restaurant was located.

It was on the brick planter opposite the Orange Bowl that "Jimmy" and his friend said they had seen the Tape Recorder Man sitting and talking to Sheila and Katherine on 25 March 1975. After a brief "interview" the girls walked away toward Mall Center where the Easter Bunny Display was located, and the Tape Recorder walked in the opposite direction toward Wards.


LINK:

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=41107&d=1392688616
 
Thanks for posting the photos, cgoodwin22.

The one of the Easter Bunny display is interesting. I can make out the circular wall of the fountain below the ramp and walk-in "house". It looks as if the fountain was no longer functioning as a fountain and that the Easter display was built on top of it.

Earlier photos of the fountain show a circular railing around it and a metal "modern art" sort of sculpture inside it. All that metal was removed later and does not appear in the Easter Bunny photo. By 1978, the entire fountain was gone and the area paved over with flat stone.

To the right of the Easter Display is the mall's main entrance and in the far distance is Wards.

The planter and "island of bushes" in the left foreground is like the one that the Tape Recorder Man was reportedly sitting on near the Orange Bowl Pizza Take Out - which is in the distance on the right, a few stores before Wards.

The photo of the 3-D sign layout of Wheaton Plaza is also very interesting and it shows how the Mall appeared in or around 1975. Note that it was an open area mall with several large buildings. Besides the two end stores (Wards and Woodies) and all the small stores, there were other buildings which housed offices and also a Car repair/inspection place.

Vitro Laboratories, where Fred Coffey worked, had an office at Wheaton Plaza. Coffey worked mainly at the Old Vitro office in Aspen Hill, MD (current site of Home Depot), but as a computer specialist, it is possible that he worked at other Vitro sites as well.
 
The photo of Wheaton Plaza with the giant white rabbit was the "Easter Bunny Display" mentioned in the case summary and in some of the 1975 news articles. The round base or foundation of the display was the low circular wall of the fountain that was located just inside the main entrance at "Mall Center".

The large Easter Bunny in the photo was not the one that kids talked to, but rather a large inanimate structure. It might have been that Sheila was seen sitting on one of its arms by a boy her age. The Easter Bunny that the kids talked to was a person inside an Easter Bunny suit.

By a year or two later, the entire fountain and the circular wall were gone, and the floor was flat and open there.
 
Wow. I think cases like the Lyon sisters are why we have so many "helicopter parents" today that won't let their kids go further than their own backyard. Look at other cases like this that aren't even in the U.S., i.e. Jamie Bulger. Children are so trusting … I am 99.9% sure that these girls are not alive and out there today. I don't know anything about the investigation pending other that what we all know already, the latest news being from February of last year. There is a high chance that the sex offender who is currently serving time did it, and although I would like to see justice be served and for him to be behind bars forever, if he accepts a plea deal and reveals the location of the remains, the girls can at least get a proper burial and there can be closure for the family.
 
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