MONROE — Controversial plans for an Interstate 75 mega-mall, thought to be dead on the drawing board in 2000, have been reborn as a scaled-down traditional mall.

        Officials from the Taubman Co. of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., said Tuesday they have listened to critics, revised their plans and now want to build a 1.1-million-square-foot enclosed mall just east of Monroe in Butler County. They compare it to the Kenwood Towne Centre in size and offerings.

        Taubman officials declined to discuss further details, but the Enquirer has learned that the new mall will have four anchor department stores and two shopping levels, and will be built on 360 acres of farmland just east of the I-75/Ohio 63 interchange on the Butler-Warren County border.

        Besides retail shopping, the new mall will feature chain restaurants and an entertainment complex, which may include cinemas.

        Taubman's original proposal in 2000 for a mega-mall in excess of 1.4 million square feet at the same location roused a collection of opposition groups from along the I-75 corridor.

        The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) has unrelated plans for expanding the I-75 and Ohio 63 interchange by 2004. Monroe officials will expand Ohio 63 east to Union Road. It will become the main feeder roadway to the mall, scheduled to open in fall 2006.

        In 2000, Taubman officials sought a new I-75 interchange at Kyles Station Road to feed into their mega-mall, but ODOT officials rejected the idea.

        Mark Bulmash, group vice president of development for Taubman, told city officials Tuesday evening that the smaller mall shows the company is “trying to be sensitive to the concerns” about the larger original, which would have required rechanneling a large creek on the property. The current mall would avoid the creek.

        Monroe Mayor Mike Morris praised the new plan, saying “this will fit into our vision for the city.”

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