APACHE PLAZA
37th Avenue Northeast and Silver Lake Road
St. Anthony, Minnesota

As most every "mall-o-phile" is aware, the nation's first regional-class, enclosed shopping complex was SOUTHDALE CENTER (1956) [May 2008 archive], which was located in the southwestern environs of Minneapolis. The second enclosed center in Minnesota, and twelfth in the United States, was built in the "North Twin Cities".

Ground was broken for metro-Minneapolis' APACHE PLAZA on April 18, 1960. The center was situated on a 42 acre plot -previously a pig farm- 5 miles north of the Central Business District. Developed by the Minneapolis-based Apache Corporation, and designed by Willard Thoreson, the 11 million dollar, "space-age" center opened October 19, 1961.

The mall proper of APACHE PLAZA featured fifty-seven stores and services, with four outparcel structures on its periphery. The complex was centered on a 3-story -350 foot long- court with multi-colored clerestory windows beneath a "Jetson-esque" ceiling of ten poured-concrete, hyperbolic paraboloid shells.

The anchors were a 1-level (60,000 square foot) J.C. Penney and 1-level (32,000 square foot) Montgomery Ward, with Rothschild-Young Quinlan as a junior anchor.

There were also F.W. Woolworth and G.C. Murphy 5 and 10s, as well as a National Foods supermarket. In addition, the mall had a subterannean level which included the 36-lane Bowl-O-Mat, Community Room and several smaller stores and offices.

The shopping center served as a catalyst for further development of the immediate area. The Apache Office Park was dedicated in 1964. The Apache Medical Complex came along two years later. In 1969, the single-screen Apache Chief Theatre opened, 1.5 blocks west of the mall.

Shopping mall competition arrived on the scene with the 1961 completion of HAR-MAR MALL (a.k.a. "THE HUB"), in Roseville, followed (in 1962) by BROOKDALE CENTER, in Brooklyn Center. 1969 brought ROSEDALE CENTER, also in Roseville, which eventually became the primary retail rival of APACHE PLAZA.

The first anchor tenant change occurred in 1971, when Rothschild-Young Quinlan vacated their APACHE PLAZA location. The store reopened under the Van Arsdell nameplate in 1972. In 1979, Montgomery Ward closed shop, with its space being leased to Furniture Barn.

Van Arsdell's lasted for eight years. Its spot became Home Base Liquidators in 1981. By this time, G.C. Murphy had morphed into a True Value Hardware. In 1983, a facelift renovation was done to the interior and exterior of the mall, which replaced much of its early '60s, "Googie" design features.

On April 26, 1984, a tornado tore into the southern end of APACHE PLAZA, resulting in a great deal of damage. The exposed areas were further impaired by a severe snowstorm, which occurred soon after. The center was closed for seven months, while 6 million dollars worth of repairs could be completed.

Unfortunately, the refurbished mall was not able to compete with newer and more trendy shopping centers in the region. The July 1987 opening of a new anchor -St. Cloud, Minnesota-based Herberger's- helped keep the mall vital for a time. However, by the mid-1990s, the mall owners had defaulted on their loan.

This situation was exacerbated by the shuttering of J.C. Penney and Woolworth. A new Cub Foods, which had opened in the early 1990s, did not improve the fortunes of APACHE PLAZA. The store was built as a part of the mall's northeast structure, but did not have an interior entrance. The remaining few stores of the interior mall languished.

A "Bulldozer Bash", in April 2004, commemorated the center's forty-three years of service to the community. By May, the complex was a pile of rubble.

Work soon commenced on a power center format, mixed-use complex, developed by New Brighton, Minnesota-based Pratt-Ordway Properties and Bloomington, Minnesota-based Doran Companies.

The center, known as SILVER LAKE VILLAGE, was anchored by Wal-Mart and a newly-built Cub Foods. It was completed in 2005.

Sources:

www.apacheplaza.com / Jeff Anderson, webmaster
"Apache Plaza" article on Wikipedia
www.labelscar.com / "Har-Mar Mall" article and posts
"A Look Back At Apache Plaza" / Star Tribune / Rick Nelson / May 13, 2004
http:dorancompanies.com


APACHE PLAZA POST SCRIPT:

Many thanks go out to Minneapolis mall-o-phile Jeff Anderson, who provided the historical photos for this article...as well as a lot of the information used in compiling the written content.

Those interested should be sure and check out Jeff's commemorative website, www.apacheplaza.com .

The Curator