Eastwood Mall
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This article refers to the Eastwood Mall in Birmingham, Alabama. For the mall of the same name in Niles, Ohio, see Eastwood Mall (Niles).
Eastwood Mall, located in metropolitan Birmingham, Alabama, was the second enclosed shopping mall in the Southeast; this following the opening of North Carolina's Charlottetown Mall, which debuted on October 28, 1959.
Eastwood Mall opened on August 25, 1960. It was located on Crestwood Boulevard (U.S. Highway 78), adjacent to the future route of I-20, and near the suburb of Irondale. The original tenant list included J.J. Newberry and S.S. Kresge (two defunct five and dime chains), as well as J.C. Penney, a Kroger supermarket, and Colonial Stores supermarket, (which became a Hill's Food Store, and eventually evolved into Winn-Dixie). The mall had no major department stores until the mid-to-late 1960s. Anchors that have been connected to the center over time include Parisian, Pizitz, Yielding's, Service Merchandise and Party City.
Eastwood Mall was the creation of Newman H. Waters, who owned a chain of drive-in theaters in the Birmingham area, including one adjacent to where Eastwood was built.
Early advertisements for the mall boasted of its "Air Conditioned Sidewalks" and dubbed it "The Merchandise City of the Future".
For quite some time, the mall was unique in that it had two cafeterias under the same name and management, one at each end of the mall; Barber Dairies was the original owner, who later sold out to Britling Cafeterias, who themselves sold one cafeteria to another operator and closed the other (Pioneer Cafeteria). A 48-lane bowling center, a boat dealership, and a small amusement park with miniature golf -called Funtown- were located across the parking lot from the west end of the mall.
A movie theater opened on Christmas Day 1964 and was equipped to show Cinerama movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Ice Station Zebra. Eastwood Mall Theatre was also the site of the world premiere of the 1976 film Stay Hungry, which was set -and filmed- in Birmingham. Co-star Arnold Schwarznegger, who won a Golden Globe award for his role in the movie, appeared at the opening, largely unrecognized by fans.
At the time of its 1966 expansion to 70 stores, Eastwood Mall was believed to be the largest enclosed mall in the Deep South, eclipsing anything that much-larger Atlanta had at the time. Although Atlanta's Lenox Square may have had a few more leasable square feet than Eastwood, it was still an open-air shopping center (not being roofed-in until a renovation in 1972). The ENCLOSED, climate-controlled Eastwood Mall was a source of pride for Birmingham boosters.
In 1967, Newman Waters sold Eastwood Mall to Alabama Farm Bureau (today known as ALFA), which owned the property until the mid 1980s.
Eastwood Mall was once one of the leading malls in Birmingham, remaining enormously successful for 30 years and continuing to hold its own in the 1990s
In 1989, Eastwood Mall received a facelift, adding a food court with a glass atrium and a wall of video screens that made one big image, a Books-A-Million, and a larger space for Parisian. When larger cinemas came into favor, the Eastwood Mall Theatre was closed.[1] However, the renovations came with a cost. Mismanagemaent involved with the mall renovations led to overcharged rents, which drove many of Eastwood's old-time tenants out, therefore turning the mall into a virtual dead mall.
Wal-Mart has bought the property from Lehman Brothers (the last owner of Eastwood Mall), and plans to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter on the site. This will replace the smaller Wal-Mart in nearby Irondale, which will be closed. The Sam's Club in Irondale will remain, however. Around the new Wal-Mart, there will be a new shopping center and outposts, called Eastwood Village, in memory of the deep south's first indoor shopping center.
Demolition of the mall began June 23, 2006, and was completed approximately ten weeks later.
