MARYVALE SHOPPING CITY
West Indian School Road and North Maryvale Parkway
Phoenix, Arizona

The first shopping mall in Arizona's Valley Of The Sun -PARK CENTRAL CENTER [August 2007 archive]- opened in Phoenix in 1957. The state's second mall-type complex was constructed on a 65.3 acre site, located 7.4 miles northwest of the Arizona State Capitol.

Known as MARYVALE SHOPPING CITY, it was completed in 1960. Its developer, Phoenix's John F. Long, built the venue as a part of Maryvale, his post World War II suburb, which was named after his wife, Mary.

This moderne metropolis was designed with the assistance of Victor Gruen [May 2008 archive]. The suburb and its shopping center were annexed into the city limits of Phoenix in 1960.

MARYVALE SHOPPING CITY, originally an open-air mall, was anchored by Malcom's department store (owned by John F. Long), and included a Montgomery Ward, S.S. Kresge 5 and 10, Sears Catalogue and Appliance, El Rancho supermarket and the Bowlero bowling alley.

Competing shopping venues in the vacinity included CHRIS-TOWN MALL (1961) [December 2006 archive], VALLEY WEST MALL (1974) [September 2007 archive] and WESTRIDGE MALL (1981) (later known as DESERT SKY MALL).

MARYVALE was enclosed and expanded in the late 1970s and renamed MARYVALE MALL. This renovation included the addition of a Los Angeles-based Zody's discount mart and a southern wing of new stores, anchored by a Mervyn's on its western end.

By this time, Montgomery Ward had closed. Its space became the new location for Malcom's. The old Malcom's was extended northward and became a Phoenix-based LaBelle's and then a Richmond, Virginia-based Best Products catalogue showroom. The Bowlero was renovated into a Nogales, Arizona-based Capin's department store.

The early '80s brought even more tenant changes. The vacated El Rancho supermarket spot was taken by Federated Group, a Los Angeles-based electronics store. Malcom's went under with its space becoming a Phoenix-based Boston Store (not affiliated with the Milwaukee-based chain of the same name).

An indoor soccer arena, the Maryvale Pride Pavilion, was added to the mall's northwest corner. In 1984, Zody's closed shop and reopened as a Target. The mid-1980s mall also included a Fry's supermarket, Walgreen Drug and -outparcel- Maryvale I and II Cinema.

Unfortunately, neighborhood demographics had shifted. Shoppers were flocking to newer malls in the outer-ring suburbs. By 1995, the virtually vacant MARYVALE MALL was shuttered.

Its owner, John F. Long, devised an ingenious plan to reinvent -and save- the structure. It was offered to the local school district at a rock-bottom price, under the proviso that the original mall building could not be torn down or its exterior dramatically altered.

A reconstruction project began in August 1999. The northern portion of the 450,000 square foot mall was renovated into the 111,300 square foot Marc T. Atkinson Middle School (which opened in the fall of 2000) and the 80,800 square foot Bret R. Tarver Elementary School (which opened in the fall of 2001).

There was also a 50,000 square foot "transition school" recreated out of the mall, along with a police substation and community center. The old Mervyn's and southern store wing was razed with a new Wal-Mart Supercenter built on its spot.

Sources:

Mitch Glaser's mall memories
Malls Of America Blogspot / "Maryvale Shopping City" post
Maricopa County, Arizona tax assessor website
www.peterli.com
www.districtadministration.com
archrecord.construction.com / Clifford A. Pearson
www.movietheatre.org