A dead mall
On my most recent trip to Phoenix, before opting for a hotel near Skyharbor so that my inner avgeek could stare mindlessly at the arrivals and departures, I nearly chose to stay in the Uptown area just north of downtown. The neighborhood was urban in nature, contained several stops on the light rail’s A-Line and is home to the earliest shopping mall built in the desert city, Park Central.
1- The Park Central access from Central Avenue. 2 to 8- The former Goldwater's store presently serves as office and clinic space.
Exploring the area on Google Maps, to my delight I recognized the signatures of what may have once been a shopping mall close to my potential temporary dwelling. It was surrounded by an extensive parking area and consisted of long, narrow structures capped at each end and in the middle by what once could have been anchors. I was glad to find that my assumptions were correct.
Park Central Shopping City lease plan ca. 1957. View the full PDF version here.
Park Central was my third destination of the day after Christown Spectrum and the carcass of Metrocenter Mall. Though it didn’t lean into its mid-twentieth century origins to the extent of Christown, at least it was still standing unlike Metrocenter. And while newer elements have been added throughout the years, the Park Central of old was still very evident.
1 to 3- The northern façade of Park Central. 4 to 8- The former JCPenney store. 9- The western exterior of the facility. 10- The western mall entrance next to Penny’s.
I began at the far north section of the facility and the only double tiered portion just outside of the former JCPenney, the most recently constructed anchor at the site. The court area adjacent to the nationally known department store was wide, spacious and protected from the sun by a looming concrete overhang. This was my favorite feature of the complex.
The dramatic, double tiered and covered court outside of JCPenney’s former entrance to Park Central Mall.
It was easy to imagine the groovy seventies logo of the Dallas based Penney’s illuminated above the repeating columns protecting a breezeway nearly encircling the entire structure. Now home to offices, when Park Central lured the venerable department store from downtown, it marked the end of the central business district’s title as the retail center of the city.
Park Central Mall lease plan ca. 1975. View the full PDF version here.
The main corridor running north to south had been redesigned as a foot path surrounded by manicured spots of green. No longer occupied by names such as Guggie’s Coffee Shop, House of Fabrics, Walgreen Drugs and Coffee Dan’s diner, the current occupants skew more toward financial and medical service providers.
Where the two concourses positioned at a right angle to each other met was the second of Park Central’s three anchors and one of the original two. Completely redesigned in the present day as office space with windows now set where blank, monolithic walls sporting the label Diamond’s once rose, it is the single most altered portion of the original center.
Park Central Mall lease plan ca. 1989. View the full PDF version here.
Turning to the main east to west concourse, I passed a small splash pad in what once served as Park Central’s center court. Overall, few of the office spaces were vacant, but there was little foot traffic in my vicinity. However, as I made my way further to the east, the number of patrons steadily increased.
The main north south concourse of Park Central.
As I neared the Park Central main entrance off of North Central Avenue, the barren walls of what was once the facility’s third department store anchor, Goldwater’s, dominated the view to my left. To my right were several eating establishments that were apparently popular among Uptown’s workforce.
The former Diamond’s and Dillard’s anchor building now serves as offices for Dignity Health.
Hidden behind white, diagonally placed slats obscuring most of the original façade, what was once a Goldwater’s department store presently hosts offices on its upper level while the ground floor contains a blend of classrooms and fast-casual storefronts. Just across the main entrance from the former anchor in the place of the long closed diner Coffee Dan’s, the chatter of workers on their lunch break could be heard at restaurants First Watch and The Green Woodpecker.
Park Central pamphlet ca. 2018. View the full PDF version here.
Park Central Shopping City opened in 1957 as the Phoenix area’s first modern shopping mall on land that once hosted the Central Avenue Dairy. Originally located on the northern extent of the fledgling city’s boundaries, it was the first major development in what would come to be known as Uptown.
Goldwater's, which was built before the balance of Park Central Shopping City, served as the eastern department store anchor. Diamond’s, which opened with the rest of the smaller shops, found its place on the western end of the main concourse. Further shops lined a short north-south corridor, though they only occupied space on the walkway’s eastern side.
Park Central pamphlet ca. 2022. View the full PDF version here.
As the Uptown area grew upwards during the sixties, Park Central Shopping City expanded further to the north of its initial footprint. An additional line of shops was added to the west side of the north-south concourse while the third and largest anchor, JCPenney, opened on its end in 1967. This would be the facility’s final layout.
1- A mural along Park Central’s western face. 2- The water feature where the two corridors meet. 3 to 8- The main east-west concourse of Park Central.
During the following two decades, more competition in the form of Biltmore Fashion Park, Chris-Town Mall and Maryvale Mall would attract shoppers away as Phoenix continued it explosive, outward growth. In the late eighties, the Goldwater’s spot was darkened as its current occupant, Robinson’s, locked their doors for the final time.
The former Park Central Mall main corridor leading to the main entrance off of Central Avenue.
Robinson’s departure was followed by an exodus of smaller retailers, which only increased further when JCPenney exited in the early nineties. This left Dillard’s, which had taken over Diamond’s location in recent years, first downgraded to a Clearance outlet before calling it quits completely in the middle part of the same decade.
Park Central pamphlet ca. 2026. View the full PDF version here.
Around the turn of the century, the moribund Park Central Mall was nearly completely empty and abandoned. Uptown, which by then had become a satellite central business district, itself presented other opportunities outside of retail. It was then that what was once the oldest extant shopping mall in Greater Phoenix was converted to the office park that exists today.
1 to 3- The mall facing side of the former Goldwater’s building. 4 to 6- The main entrance to Park Central. 7 to 10- Popular restaurants along the mall’s eastern and southern faces.
Though much of its mid-century personality has been renovated away, I was glad to see the majority of the original complex still standing. Though no longer adorned by Diamond’s and Goldwater’s distinct script logos and highlighted by the wondrously googie Coffee Don’s, it’s good to know that Park Central Shopping City still has an important place in Phoenix.
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