The Ithaca Commons

Meet on the Commons at the Cayuga Medical Center Tent before starting the History Center Walking Tour.

In 1972, to encourage business activity downtown, then Mayor Edward Conley and the Common Council made plans for the state's first outdoor pedestrian mall. State Street had long been the commercial center of Ithaca, but retail development in outlying areas had dramatically cut into the downtown area's revenues. The city hired the local firm of Anton J. Egner & Associates, with landscape architect Marvin Adleman to design the Commons, which opened in 1974. Discussions in 2007 about upgrading the Commons infrastructure were broaded to consider design alterations. After extensive community input, Bostin-based Sasaki Associates was hired in 2009 and a new design concept was selected that December. Construction began in April 2013 and concluded in August 2015.