| Blue Ridge Mall | |
|---|---|
| Location | I-70 & Sterling Avenue Kansas City, Missouri 64130 |
| Opened | 1958 |
| Closed | 2005 |
| Demolished | Fall 2005 |
| Owner | MBS Mall Investor-98 LLC |
| Operator | MBS Mall Investor-98, LLC |
| Capacity | 63-acre (250,000 m2) site |
| Tenants | |
|
JCPenney Montgomery Ward The Jones Store Co. |
|
Blue Ridge Mall was one of the first shopping malls built in the United States. Located in Kansas City, Missouri, on I-70 & Sterling Avenue at Exit 10. The location surrounds the area from 40 Highway to 43rd Street on the North/South and Sterling Avenue to Blue Ridge Boulevard on the West/East. It sits on the site of Blue Ridge Crossing and is about one mile (1.6 km) from the Truman Sports Complex at Exit 9. It opened on October 17, 1957 as an open-air shopping center and included a location of Harzfeld's. H. Roe Bartle, former Mayor of Kansas City, cut the ribbon that officially opened the shopping center.
Blue Ridge Mall had the added distinction of being located in two cities at the same time. The city limits of Kansas City, Missouri and Independence, Missouri bisected The Jones Store Co. on the northeast corner of the store.
During the 1960s, Blue Ridge Mall was the most popular shopping center in the Kansas City Metropolitan area and in 1971, the J. C. Penney store expanded moving from the south court of the mall to become an anchor store on the west end. With that move, the shopping center was fully enclosed and the hey-day of the Blue Ridge Mall would continue for two more decades.
By the mid-1990s, the Kansas City Metropolitan Area had a 'mall glut' and with the close proximity of two newer enclosed malls within a ten mile radius, Blue Ridge Mall started to show its age and declining popularity with shoppers. After several ownership changes and a failed attempt at redevelopment when Montgomery Ward suddenly announced its bankruptcy and the closure of all stores nationwide at the close of 2000, the current ownership decided to demolish the old mall and start again.
Tax Increment Financing was obtained from the City of Kansas City and demolition began in 2005. The redeveloped site is now known as Blue Ridge Crossing and the old mall site represents Phase I in a three phase development.
Read more about this topic: Blue Ridge Crossing
Famous quotes containing the words blue, ridge and/or mall:
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Hum, quoth the bee,
Buz and hum they cry,
And so do we:
In his ear, in his nose, thus, do you see?
He ate the dormouse, else it was he.”
—Ben Jonson (1572–1637)
“The light passes
from ridge to ridge,
from flower to flower—”
—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)
“A father ... knows exactly what those boys at the mall have in their depraved little minds because he once owned such a depraved little mind himself. In fact, if he thinks enough about the plans that he used to have for young girls, the father not only will support his wife in keeping their daughter home but he might even run over to the mall and have a few of those boys arrested.”
—Bill Cosby (20th century)