Aerial view of Exit 15 showing Pyramid Mall completed • 1972
“The Wilton exits were a big interchange in the middle of nothing,” recalls Gordon. He remembers there being a cluster of three cottages on old Route 50, which was then just a two-lane road along its length. A tremendous county sewer system project in 1969, costing $142 million in just the first phase was executed, and water lines were put in where the dirt was easiest to dig.
It was the largest of the expanding shopping opportunities concentrated in this two-mile radius that also included fast food restaurants and car dealerships, at the time. From 1970 to 1980, Wilton’s population surged 142 percent, from just under 3,000 people to more than 7,000. Town and County Supervisor Roy McDonald held monthly office hours in the mall to engage residents in the growth of the burgeoning town.
“Growth takes a natural flow,” said Gordon.
A Beacon of Hope
By 1972, the biggest news in retail up until that point came with the opening of the Pyramid Mall at Exit 15. Developed by the Pyramid Management Group based out of Syracuse, it was eventually anchored by large department stores such as Montgomery Ward and Jamesway, a Stewart’s Shop even occupied a space within the new commercial center. To capitalize on its proximity to its well-known neighbor, the city of Saratoga Springs, it was renamed Pyramid Mall Saratoga and then called simply, the Saratoga Mall.
18 | TOWN OF WILTON 200 th ANNIVERSARY 2018
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