Above and below are views of today's new & improved DUCK CREEK PLAZA. This open-air power center replaced the enclosed mall, which was bulldozed in mid-2003. A Schnucks supermarket was the Missouri-based chain's first Iowa location.
Photo from hrrp://phillipsedison.com / Phillips Edison & Company
Photo from hrrp://phillipsedison.com / Phillips Edison & Company
Original drawing from www.ruhlcommercial.com / Ruhl Commercial Company
DUCK CREEK PLAZA
Middle and East Kimberly Roads
Bettendorf, Iowa
The first shopping mall developed by Iowa's General Management Corporation (the mother company of General Growth Properties) was built on a 24-acre plot, situated 1.4 miles northwest of the Central Business District of the "Quad City" of Bettendorf, Iowa.
DUCK CREEK PLAZA, designed by the Brown & Healy firm of Cedar Rapids, was officially dedicated August 18, 1960. The ceremony was attended by Arnold Kallert (Mayor of Bettendorff), Don Pertrucelli (Mayor of Davenport), Martin and Matthew Bucksbaum (of General Growth Management) and Sally Neville, "Miss Iowa 1960."
Anchored by a 1-level (60,000 square foot), Des Moines-based Younkers, the open-air retail hub encompassed 200,000 leasable square feet and housed thirty stores and services. These included Walgreen Drug, Fannie May Candies, Walker's Jewelry, a Bishop Buffet cafeteria and 1-level (20,000 square foot) F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10. A (25,500 square foot) Eagle Food Center supermarket had been open for business since June 8, 1960.
The complex became freeway-friendly with the completion of an adjacent stretch of Interstate 74, which opened to traffic September 2, 1971. On August 18, 1972, Davenport-based Petersen Harned Von Maur ("Petersen's") opened a 1-level (20,000 square foot) location. This store assumed space vacated by Woolworth's in May 1972.
The first expansion of the mall, a fully-enclosed North Wing, was completed in April 1973. It encompassed approximately 100,000 leasable square feet and included So-Fro Fabrics, Hickory Farms of Ohio, an Aladdin's Castle video arcade and 4-story Bettendorf Bank & Trust tower. The General Cinema Corporation Duck Creek Cinema I & II had shown its first features on December 27, 1972. The mall now housed approximately 300,000 leasable square feet and contained forty stores and services.
For 13 years, DUCK CREEK PLAZA had been the only shopping mall in the Quad Cities region. This changed with the completion of NORTHPARK MALL {3 miles northwest, in Davenport} in 1973 and SOUTHPARK MALL {4.8 miles southeast, in Moline} in 1974.
The Eagle Food Center, a charter DUCK CREEK PLAZA tenant, was shuttered and replaced by a Framingham, Massachusetts-based Marshalls. This store debuted on May 14, 1984. The twin cinema was shuttered July 30, 1987.
Meanwhile, General Growth had sold DUCK CREEK PLAZA to the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States in September 1984. At the time, a 4.5 million dollar renovation, enclosing the original open-air section, was underway. The newly-refurbished shopping concourse was re-dedicated on August 14, 1985.
By the mid-1990s, the shopping center was in decline. In 1998, the complex was acquired by a joint venture of Chicago's Dalan Development Corporation, the Daly Group, Limited Liability Company and Davenport-based Ruhl & Ruhl Commercial Company. Petersen Harned & Von Maur (whose name had been shortened to simply Von Maur in 1989) was shuttered on September 14, 1999. This was followed by the closing of Younkers, on January 31, 2001.
In November 2001, a demalling plan was announced. Demolition commenced in March 2003. The structure was taken down in stages, with the first segment being the Von Maur / Younkers portion and North Wing. The bank building and cinema were left standing. An open-air power center, also known as DUCK CREEK PLAZA, was built.
A (14,000 square foot) Walgreen Drug became the first operational store on November 14, 2003. This was followed by a 1-level (102,400 square foot) Home Depot, which was dedicated on December 4, 2003. A (28,200 square foot) Marshalls welcomed its first shoppers on May 20, 2004.
The old Marshalls-Bishop Buffet-Walgreen section of the mall was then bulldozed. This made room for a 1-level (63,700 square foot) Schnucks Fresh Foods, which was dedicated on May 24, 2005. When fully realized, the new DUCK CREEK PLAZA comprised approximately 263,200 leasable square feet and housed thirty-four tenant spaces. The center was acquired by the Oakbrook, Illinois-based Inland Real Estate Group in November 2005. They sold the property to Cincinnati's Phillips Edison & Company in October 2013.
Sources:
The Quad City Times (Davenport, Iowa)
The Daily Reporter (Spencer, Iowa)
http://www.ggp.com / General Growth Properties
For 13 years, DUCK CREEK PLAZA had been the only shopping mall in the Quad Cities region. This changed with the completion of NORTHPARK MALL {3 miles northwest, in Davenport} in 1973 and SOUTHPARK MALL {4.8 miles southeast, in Moline} in 1974.
The Eagle Food Center, a charter DUCK CREEK PLAZA tenant, was shuttered and replaced by a Framingham, Massachusetts-based Marshalls. This store debuted on May 14, 1984. The twin cinema was shuttered July 30, 1987.
Meanwhile, General Growth had sold DUCK CREEK PLAZA to the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States in September 1984. At the time, a 4.5 million dollar renovation, enclosing the original open-air section, was underway. The newly-refurbished shopping concourse was re-dedicated on August 14, 1985.
By the mid-1990s, the shopping center was in decline. In 1998, the complex was acquired by a joint venture of Chicago's Dalan Development Corporation, the Daly Group, Limited Liability Company and Davenport-based Ruhl & Ruhl Commercial Company. Petersen Harned & Von Maur (whose name had been shortened to simply Von Maur in 1989) was shuttered on September 14, 1999. This was followed by the closing of Younkers, on January 31, 2001.
In November 2001, a demalling plan was announced. Demolition commenced in March 2003. The structure was taken down in stages, with the first segment being the Von Maur / Younkers portion and North Wing. The bank building and cinema were left standing. An open-air power center, also known as DUCK CREEK PLAZA, was built.
A (14,000 square foot) Walgreen Drug became the first operational store on November 14, 2003. This was followed by a 1-level (102,400 square foot) Home Depot, which was dedicated on December 4, 2003. A (28,200 square foot) Marshalls welcomed its first shoppers on May 20, 2004.
The old Marshalls-Bishop Buffet-Walgreen section of the mall was then bulldozed. This made room for a 1-level (63,700 square foot) Schnucks Fresh Foods, which was dedicated on May 24, 2005. When fully realized, the new DUCK CREEK PLAZA comprised approximately 263,200 leasable square feet and housed thirty-four tenant spaces. The center was acquired by the Oakbrook, Illinois-based Inland Real Estate Group in November 2005. They sold the property to Cincinnati's Phillips Edison & Company in October 2013.
Sources:
The Quad City Times (Davenport, Iowa)
The Daily Reporter (Spencer, Iowa)
http://www.ggp.com / General Growth Properties
http://www.ruhlcommercial.com / Ruhl Commercial Company
http://www.dot.state.ia.us
http://www.cinematour.com
http://www.thedalygroup.com
http://www.inlandgroup.com
https://myomahaobsession.com
http://www.dot.state.ia.us
http://www.cinematour.com
http://www.thedalygroup.com
http://www.inlandgroup.com
https://myomahaobsession.com
"Younkers" article on Wikipedia
