Grand Cities Mall

The Grand Cities Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located on South Washington Street in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Being built in 1964, it was the first enclosed shopping mall built in North Dakota, but by a quirk of fate, the second opened to the public by only six days difference. The mall covers 367,122 sq ft (34,106.7 m2) and is anchored by Kmart, Family Dollar, Poppler's Music, Ace Hardware, and uniquely HOPE Church. The Grand Cities Mall has many other smaller stores, including a few national chains, although most tenants are local businesses.

History

Grand Cities Mall
Location of Grand Cities Mall

The Grand Cities Mall, originally called South Forks Plaza, was built in several stages. One of the original anchors, Kmart, first opened February 26, 1964,[1] before the rest of the mall, which continued to be built over the summer. Sears opened its location in the mall on October 8, 1964.[2]

The mall was the first enclosed mall in the city of Grand Forks. However, until 1973, the mall's two wings were not accessible to each other from inside. Sears and many of the stores occupied one wing, with Kmart and the remainder of the stores in the other. In November 1973 a connecting portion of the mall was completed, allowing access between the wings. A further addition was added on the west side in 1977.

The property was acquired by J. Herzog & Sons, Inc. in 1998. The old "South Forks Plaza" name was subsequently dropped and some renovations took place. That same year, J. Herzog and Sons sold a portion of the Mall, The Pavilion, to Hope Evangelical Covenant Church.[3]

In 2000, Sears left the mall and moved to Columbia Mall. The empty Sears space was divided up into several smaller stores including a Zimmerman's furniture store and a Family Dollar. In 2005, Burggraf's Ace Hardware opened a store on the east side of the mall.[4]

On April 1, 2015, the entire mall was purchased by Hope Evangelical Covenant Church. A separate company, Land of Hope, LLC, was created to run the mall's daily operations.[5]

The Grand Cities Mall also contains some tenants not usually located in shopping malls: a dance studio, a cake bakery, and the local Motor Vehicle Department office.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Opening Of New K-Mart City Business Landmark", Grand Forks Herald, February 26, 1964, p. 28
  2. ↑ "Sears Has Official Opening", Grand Forks Herald, October 8, 1964, p. 8
  3. ↑ Hope Evangelical Covenant Church
  4. ↑ Burggraf's Ace Hardware
  5. ↑ "Hope Church to buy Grand Cities Mall", Grand Forks Herald, February 11, 2015
  6. ↑ Motor Vehicle Locations, North Dakota Department of Transportation. Retrieved 14 September 2006.

Coordinates: 47°54′07″N 97°02′53″W / 47.902081°N 97.047933°W / 47.902081; -97.047933

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