A late '80s physical layout. The mall's only physical expansion, a
39,000 square foot addition to Montgomery Ward, had been done
in 1975. Other than this, the basic footprint of the mall remained
unchanged for all of its years in business.
BIG TOWN MALL
US 80 East and Big Town Boulevard
Mesquite, Texas
Ground was broken for the first fully-enclosed shopping mall in the Southwest in August 1957. The complex-to-be was built on an 80 acre tract, located 7 miles east of downtown Dallas, in the suburb of Mesquite.
Known as BIG TOWN MALL, it was developed by Denver's Gerri Von Frellick and designed by the Tatum and Quade firm. A grand opening was held February 26, 1959, with the shopping venue enveloping 581,500 leasable square feet and seven thousand parking spaces.
BIG TOWN MALL featured over sixty-five retailers and was anchored by a 3-level (104,000 square foot), Dallas-based Sanger Brothers, at the north end of the mall. There was a 2-level (124,500 square foot) Montgomery Ward at the south end and 1-level (38,000 square foot) J.C. Penney on the northwest corner.
In addition, there were a Wyatt's Cafeteria, Giggle Box Cartoon Theater, F.W. Woolworth 5 and 10, Wrigley's supermarket and six hundred seat Town Hall Auditorium. Lollipop Park, an enclosed children's amusement area, featured rides such as a mini-train, mini-ferris wheel, Sky Fighter, roadway, Brownie tractors and helicopters. There was also the Magic Mountain Indian Village.
A nine hundred-seat, single-screen cinema and a bowling alley were added as outparcels to the main mall structure in the early 1960s, accompanied by a freestanding Woolco discount mart. This single-level (101,000 square foot) store was built east of the mall proper and opened for business in the spring of 1967.
The malling of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex intensified after the completion of NORTHPARK CENTER {8 miles northwest, in Dallas}, in 1965. In 1971, TOWN EAST MALL {4 miles east, also in Mesquite} opened for business..
In order to compete with the malls that were springing up all over the region, BIG TOWN underwent a renovation in 1975. Ward's was expanded, into a 164,200 square foot location, with additions on the east and west. A facelift-type remodel was also done to the mall proper in 1988.
Unfortunately, BIG TOWN was soon in decline. The Sanger Brothers store, now operating under the Sanger-Harris nameplate, was merged into the Houston-based Foley's chain in 1987. The store closed for good in 1989. Woolworth folded in 1993, with Montgomery Ward following in 2001.
By the turn of the century, BIG TOWN was a delapidated, virtually vacant, shopping center. Demolition plans were finalized in early 2006. By September of the year, BIG TOWN and some of its outparcels were a pile of rubble.
The present redevelopment scenario, put forth by developer Kent Jones, consists of building a sports and entertainment complex on the site. This would encompass baseball fields, soccer fields, an ampitheater and an indoor training facility, with additional space for lodging, restaurants and retail.
Sources:
"Big Town" article on Wikipedia
"Sanger Brothers" article on Wikipedia
Dallas History Message Board / "Big Town Shopping Center" comment / September 28, 2003 / Posted By Don Davis
http://www.city-data.com/ / Dallas Forum / "Mesquite's Big Town Mall" thread/ Mike Cochran comment
Dallas Morning News / Friday July 28, 2006 / "Mall Was The Place To Be" / Karin Shaw Anderson
Dead Malls.com / "Big Town Mall" Commentary / David Avery
http://www.msnbc.com/
A full article for Greater Dallas' HIGHLAND PARK VILLAGE may be found on the SHOPPING MALL MUSEUM site.
The malling of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex intensified after the completion of NORTHPARK CENTER {8 miles northwest, in Dallas}, in 1965. In 1971, TOWN EAST MALL {4 miles east, also in Mesquite} opened for business..
In order to compete with the malls that were springing up all over the region, BIG TOWN underwent a renovation in 1975. Ward's was expanded, into a 164,200 square foot location, with additions on the east and west. A facelift-type remodel was also done to the mall proper in 1988.
Unfortunately, BIG TOWN was soon in decline. The Sanger Brothers store, now operating under the Sanger-Harris nameplate, was merged into the Houston-based Foley's chain in 1987. The store closed for good in 1989. Woolworth folded in 1993, with Montgomery Ward following in 2001.
By the turn of the century, BIG TOWN was a delapidated, virtually vacant, shopping center. Demolition plans were finalized in early 2006. By September of the year, BIG TOWN and some of its outparcels were a pile of rubble.
The present redevelopment scenario, put forth by developer Kent Jones, consists of building a sports and entertainment complex on the site. This would encompass baseball fields, soccer fields, an ampitheater and an indoor training facility, with additional space for lodging, restaurants and retail.
Sources:
"Big Town" article on Wikipedia
"Sanger Brothers" article on Wikipedia
Dallas History Message Board / "Big Town Shopping Center" comment / September 28, 2003 / Posted By Don Davis
http://www.city-data.com/ / Dallas Forum / "Mesquite's Big Town Mall" thread/ Mike Cochran comment
Dallas Morning News / Friday July 28, 2006 / "Mall Was The Place To Be" / Karin Shaw Anderson
Dead Malls.com / "Big Town Mall" Commentary / David Avery
http://www.msnbc.com/
A full article for Greater Dallas' HIGHLAND PARK VILLAGE may be found on the SHOPPING MALL MUSEUM site.
10 comments:
I saw a source that said there was once a Woolco at this mall in addition to Woolworth.
Montgomery Ward actually stayed open until 2001.
Elton,
Thanks for the info.
Cheers
It's a shame that Big Town was killed by the overmalling of the Dallas area. If they had actually cared about the property, Big Town might have been successfully realigned as an auxillary center, with big-box stores as anchors.
I dunno...
It's for sure that Dallas had (has) too many malls.....as does (did) every major US city.
I was kind of surprised by the tee-total decimation of BIG TOWN, back in 2006. I mean, no structures were left to "demall"...everything was bulldozed.
Frankly, I am (after detailing so many power/lifestyle center "conversions") SO over a few -previous- mall buildings being rebuilt into another big box monstrosity...that it seems just as well that a mall is entirely torn down, with an all-new structure replacing it.
If the powers that be will not start to RESTORE the remaining mid-century mall architecture (instead of giving it a gaudy, contemporary-looking......but "old timey towne" look).....They may as well not even bother to renovate.
Maybe BIG TOWN should just be remembered as it was in its glory days.......its claim to fame time....a minute or 2 of footage in Talking Heads' "True Stories" (circa-1986).
Cheers,
This mall made an impression on me growing up. I wish I could find more comprehensive information and lots of old pictures of the interior. I am obsessed with stuff like that and can't find much on it.
Anon,
BIG TOWN fascinates me, and I never even went to it.
It was very historic...being America's THIRD interior mall. There should be at least one website devoted entirely to it, as there are for other contemporary malls such as Birmingham's EASTWOOD and Phoenix's CHRIS-TOWN.
As you were saying, there's not much in the way of vintage photos and such about BIG TOWN......
Thanks for perusing and posting.
I think, despite the mall's age, the corridors were ugly and could not be refurb'd. Then again...how could Houston's MEMORIAL CITY MALL go from something depressing in the 1970s. It was built in the early 1960s: this is the 1975 mall looking toward Montgomery Ward:
http://www.interactivevideotutorials.com/mc-north.jpg
After a series of changes, including converting the Wards into Target and undergoing a major, doubling expansion. And now, looking FROM Montgomery Ward (now Target):
http://flickr.com/photos/jnorason/3048578715/
I can't see the resemblance...could BIG TOWN MALL have been saved by a similar fashion?
....but wait, wasn't that the type of thing you wanted to avoid?
I dunno....
I'd rather not have seen so much historic architecture destroyed in the name of "progress"....
With all of the renovations and "facelifts" done to the nation's Mid-Mod malls over the years, there is -now- none of the original architecture left in any of the malls that have not been bulldozed or "power-centered".
But...retail is fickle. Consumers want the new and improved...to heck with the old and "obsolete"....
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