A site plan of the original DAYTON MALL. To a new "mallophile", such as myself, this million square foot facility seemed huge. Of course, I was unaware of even larger complexes that existed in the 'burbs of Chicago, Denver, San Francisco-Oakland and New York City.

The mall's second level Mezzanine, as it was configured during the early years. The area fronting on Rike's, and overlooking the Main Level Atrium, was a dark, empty dead zone for several years. It would finally be utilized as a Food Court in 1984.

In the early 1970s, an urban legend circulated saying that psychic Jeane Dixon had predicted that DAYTON MALL was going to come tumbling down. Of course, it never did. I have read that the same "prediction" was made for Georgia's CUMBERLAND MALL, North Carolina's FOUR SEASONS MALL and Tennessee's 100 OAKS MALL.
Photo from Wikipedia / http://paranormal-corner.blogspot.com

DAYTON MALL in 1996. Penney's had just relocated from the west end of the mall into a newly-built store at front center. The old McCrory 5 & dime was now a 4-screen multiplex. On the periphery, the grand Southland 75, a cool, Mid-Century Modern drive-in, had been bulldozed. The land became too valuable to waste as an outdoor movie theater.