28th Street / US 36 and Arapahoe Avenue
Boulder, Colorado
The Centennial State's first fully-enclosed shopping center was dedicated on March 14, 1963. CROSSROADS CENTER was developer Gerri von Frellick's second Greater Denver retail hub; the first having been LAKESIDE CENTER, in Lakeside. Encompassing 350,000 leasable square feet, the 10 million dollar CROSSROADS CENTER was designed by Gene Shrewsbury. It occupied a 62-acre parcel, located 28 miles northwest of the Colorado Capitol, in suburban Boulder.
Anchoring the mall were a 1-level (55,000 square foot) Montgomery Ward and 1-level (56,600 square foot) J.C. Penney. Thirty stores opened their doors as part of the March 1963 dedication. By mid-year, forty were in business. Among these were Fashion Bar, Furr's Cafeteria, Alcove's Carpets, Walgreen Drug, Singer Sewing Center, Anita Shops, Zale's Jewelers, an S.S. Kresge 5 & 10, (27,800 square foot) King Soopers supermarket and (10,000 square foot) Randall Shop boutique.
An enlargement of the CROSSROADS CENTER J.C. Penney was formally announced in August 1965, with ground broken for the project on June 28, 1966. A partial second floor was expanded across the entire building. An escalator was installed (Boulder's first) and an attached Auto Center and Garden Shop added. The 2-level (91,800 square foot) Penneys was dedicated on April 19, 1967.
Denver Dry Goods, who operated The Randall Shop, replaced it with a 2-level (60,000 square foot) "The Denver" store, which opened in March 1976. During the 1970s, the potential enlargement of the mall had been a hotly-contested issue in sprawl-busting Boulder. The stalemate was resolved in early 1979, by the formation of the Boulder Urban Renewal Authority (BURA). They were empowered to supervise any further additions.
Southern California's Macerich Company acquired the CROSSROADS property in August 1979. In the spring of 1981, construction commenced on an 18,000 square foot Phase I expansion. Built east of the existing J.C. Penney, the 2-level addition was completed in December 1981. It added approximately fifteen inline stores to the mall directory.
Denver Dry Goods, who operated The Randall Shop, replaced it with a 2-level (60,000 square foot) "The Denver" store, which opened in March 1976. During the 1970s, the potential enlargement of the mall had been a hotly-contested issue in sprawl-busting Boulder. The stalemate was resolved in early 1979, by the formation of the Boulder Urban Renewal Authority (BURA). They were empowered to supervise any further additions.
Southern California's Macerich Company acquired the CROSSROADS property in August 1979. In the spring of 1981, construction commenced on an 18,000 square foot Phase I expansion. Built east of the existing J.C. Penney, the 2-level addition was completed in December 1981. It added approximately fifteen inline stores to the mall directory.
A Phase II construction project got underway in 1982. Built on the north side of the Phase I expansion, it added a 2-level (110,000 square foot), Denver-based May D & F, 10-bay Food Court and 2 levels of inline stores. The 190,000 square foot addition, which practically doubled the size of the shopping facility, was officially dedicated on August 11, 1983. An official ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by several local politicians and celebrities. Music was provided by the Boulder Chamber Orchestra.
The new North Wing was expanded with a 2-level (82,400 square foot) Mervyn's, which opened for business on February 28, 1986. A subsequent expansion was completed in 1990. May D & F increased its area to 148,800 square feet and an adjacent parking garage was constructed. CROSSROADS MALL now encompassed approximately 808,900 leasable square feet.
"The Denver" was shuttered in October 1987 and was was soon reoccupied by Sears. May D & F was rebranded, by Houston-based Foley's, on May 2, 1993. Montgomery Ward was shuttered in September 1997, with its space briefly retenanted by Gart Sports. Mervyn's went dark in January 1998. Sears moved from its older -and smaller- The Denver space, opening in the former Mervyn's in October 1998.
PEARL STREET MALL (1977) {in downtown Boulder}, WESTMINSTER MALL (1977) {14.9 miles southeast, in Westminster} and FLATIRON CROSSING (2000) {8.5 miles southeast, in Broomfield) were quickly becoming the preeminent shopping venues in the CROSSROADS trade area. The mall entered a downward spiral.
Macerich had announced a 150 million dollar Boulder Crossroads project in June 1998. Under this plan, the South Wing would be demolished, making way for an open-air, "urban village," complete with ice rink, hotel and multiplex cinema.
The inline store section of the South Wing was closed off. Demolition of interior walls got underway in October 1999, but was halted in July 2000. The existing mall, it was decided, would be too expensive to retrofit. The south end, which had been reduced to rubble, sat for over 4 years while the fate of the shopping center could be decided.
Meanwhile, two more anchor stores were shuttered; Penney's pulled up stakes on April 21, 2001, with Sears shutting down in January 2003. Macerich, which had merged with Phoenix-based Westcor, submitted a new redevelopment plan to the Boulder City Council. It was quickly approved and the mall closed for good on January 8, 2004.
A wrecking ball renovation commenced in September. Foley's was left standing, along with its adjacent parking structure. The Mervyn's / Sears building was retained, as well. These would be worked into an open-air power center known as TWENTY-NINTH STREET. Construction on the 130 million dollar project was underway by October 2004.
Forty-eight stores and services were dedicated October 13, 2006. In addition to the former Foley's (which had been rebranded by Macy's on September 9, 2006), there were Borders Books, a (20,100 square foot) Staples and a 1-level (141,300 square foot) Home Depot. The 16-screen Cinemark Century Boulder Theatres megaplex showed its first features on August 17, 2007. TWENTY-NINTH STREET now encompassed 824,800 leasable square feet and contained eighty-seven stores and services.
Boulder-based Wild Oats Natural Marketplace moved its corporate offices into the upper level of the old Mervyn's / Sears building. The plan was to install a Wild Oats grocery, the chain's new flagship, in a space at the southwest corner of the structure. This never came to pass. Wild Oats was acquired by Austin-based Whole Foods Market in August 2007. They established a (45,500 square foot) regional headquarters in space previously occupied by the Wild Oats headquarters. A (36,200 square foot) Colorado Athletic Club eventually opened in the lower level of the building.
Nordstrom Rack dedicated a (39,000 square foot) TWENTY-NINTH STREET store on April 28, 2011. A freestanding Applebee's restaurant closed and was demolished. California's Trader Joe's built a (14,000 square foot) store, which welcomed its first shoppers on February 14, 2014.
Sources:
The Broomfield Star-Builder (Broomfield, Colorado)
The Westminster Journal (Westminster, Colorado)
The Louisville Times (Louisville, Colorado)
https://localhistory.boulderlibrary.org
www.thedailycamera.com
www.thedailycamera.com
"KCPhoto"
Urban Exploration Recource / "Duluoz"
http://gracklecolorado.edu
"The Denver Dry Goods: Where Colorado Shopped With Confidence" / Mark A. Barnhouse
www.denvergov.org
FAIR USE OF CROSSROADS IMAGES:
Photos from the History Colorado Collection, Boulder Historical Society/Museum of Boulder and Carnegie Library for Local History, Boulder illustrate a key moment in the mall's history that is described in the article. The images are not replaceable with free-use or public-domain images. The use of the images does not limit the copyright owners' rights to distribute them in any way. The images are being used for non-profit, informational purposes only and their use is not believed to detract from the original images in any way.
Urban Exploration Recource / "Duluoz"
http://gracklecolorado.edu
"The Denver Dry Goods: Where Colorado Shopped With Confidence" / Mark A. Barnhouse
www.macerich.com / The Macerich Company
www.cinematreasures.orgwww.denvergov.org
FAIR USE OF CROSSROADS IMAGES:
Photos from the History Colorado Collection, Boulder Historical Society/Museum of Boulder and Carnegie Library for Local History, Boulder illustrate a key moment in the mall's history that is described in the article. The images are not replaceable with free-use or public-domain images. The use of the images does not limit the copyright owners' rights to distribute them in any way. The images are being used for non-profit, informational purposes only and their use is not believed to detract from the original images in any way.
