Memories of Chris-Town Mall | Phoenix Arizona | Remembering Christown Past
I hope you enjoy this slide presentation of random scenes, in no particular order, of some of the best moments in Christown history. I must apologize for the quality of some of the photos. Some images, while not of the best quality, were just too precious to leave out.
#ChristownMall #Phoenix #Christown #VintageMalls
Chris-Town Mall is the oldest operating mall and was the third shopping mall built in Phoenix, Arizona, located at 1703 W. Bethany Home Road in Phoenix, Arizona. The property currently is known as Christown Spectrum Mall, derived from Chris-Town Mall and Phoenix Spectrum Mall, names previously used in the past. Today it exists as an enclosed shopping mall, although the enclosed portion of the mall was greatly reduced when redevelopment changed the configuration closer to a "power center".
A Little History of Christown Mall:
Chris-Town Mall was originally named after the farmer, Chris Harri, who sold a large portion of his farmland to the mall's developer, Del Webb in the late 1950s.
Construction was completed in mid-1961. Chris-Town Mall opened with much fanfare on August 24, advertised as the first indoor mall in Arizona. Another first for an Arizona mall was the air-conditioned interior, which may have led to competing Maryvale Mall converting to an indoor mall to stay competitive. The mall's original anchors included Montgomery Ward, JCPenney, and the first branch of the Downtown Phoenix department store Korricks. Other major tenants included S. S. Kresge, & Woolworth. Themed Courtyards served as focal points in front of each of the three major department stores. The main courtyard at the center entrance that buffered JCPenney was named the Court of Fountains; another named the Court of Flowers ended the east wing near Korrick's, and the Montgomery Wards opened to the final one, named the Court of Birds, in the west wing.
By 1966 the mall already had begun the first of many significant changes as one of the original three anchor department stores, Korricks, was bought by and renamed The Broadway. Also that year the mall's first of two movie theatres broke ground on the southwest side of the main parking lot. And a new subterranean tavern, called The Janitor's Closet, opened in the mall in front of The Broadway, down a winding set of stairs in the basement at the northeast end of the mall. The second significant change began in 1974 in reaction to Metro Center, the new mega mall that opened just a few miles away. Woolworth's was demolished to make way for the new southwestern wing anchored by a Bullock's department store. While a second new wing on the southwestern side of the mall opened to a United Artists Cinemas 6 on the upper level making it Chris-Town's second movie theatre. Changes already were underway again by the mid-1980s when Diamond's, which quickly became Dillard's, moved into the southwestern anchor spot vacated by Bullock's short stay at the mall.
The next decade would not be kind to Chris-Town Mall following the rapid closure of many anchor stores beginning with The Broadway in 1994; JCPenney, store #1821, closed in 1997. The bankruptcy of Wards on the west end in 2001, the closing of Butler Shoe store in 1990 next to Wards and the closing of a smaller anchor Woolworths across from Wards and Butler Shoes and the closing of the final anchor on the southwest end of the mall, Dillard's, in 2004. The closures of the major department stores and the smaller anchors also brought about the permanent closure of the life sized sand sculptures exhibit that adorned the mall for many years.
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