Dimond Center - History

History

The road from Anchorage to the Potter section of the Alaska Railroad became the Seward Highway in the early 1950s and the Old Seward Highway about 20 years later with the construction of a 4-lane freeway slightly to the east. The Old Seward Highway formed the backbone of what became south Anchorage, both in terms of access to residential subdivisions and homesteads, as well as businesses which catered to both nearby residents and highway travelers.

As south Anchorage began to grow, the intersections of the Old Seward Highway with Dowling Road and with O'Malley Road originally began to develop as commercial hubs. This began to change as Larry Carr and Barney Gottstein acquired and subsequently developed large amounts of acreage throughout Anchorage, mostly with intent to expand the Carr's grocery chain. Their initial foray into south Anchorage occurred at the corner of Dimond and Old Seward, just north of the Dimond Center. This turned what was originally intended as industrial land into retail land, no doubt helped by the development boom associated with the trans-Alaska pipeline.

Dimond Center opened in 1977 with Safeway and Pay 'n Save as its anchor stores. It underwent a major expansion in 1981, adding a replacement Pay 'n Save drug store and other stores. A refrigerant leak in 1991 resulted in the death of a maintenance worker. 1996 saw the addition of a movie theater.