BOWLING GREEN MALL
Nashville Road / US 31 West and South Campbell Lane / US 231
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises developed the Blue Grass State's third interior mall. The complex, designed by architect Keva Kest, was built on a 30-acre site, located 2.3 miles southwest of the center city.
A ground breaking was on held November 4, 1965, with construction commencing in the following April. When completed, the 4 million dollar shopping center encompassed approximately 250,000 leasable square feet, all on a single level. One of the first operational BOWLING GREEN MALL stores, a 1-level (80,000 square foot) Woolco discount mart, debuted in May 1967. This store was followed by a (15,200 square foot) A & P supermarket, which opened its doors in June 1967.
A mall-wide grand opening commenced on November 2, 1967. A 1-level (58,000 square foot), Nashville-based Castner-Knott was dedicated on November 3rd. Attending the "CK" dedication were Robert Hilton (president of Castner-Knott), R.N. Shaw (executive officer of the General Mercantile Company / Mercantile Stores) and Robert Petrie (Mayor of Bowling Green).
BOWLING GREEN MALL now featured fifteen stores and services. There would eventually be thirty-two. Charter tenants included Behr's ladies' wear, Adams Shoes, Zale's Jewelers, an (8,300 square foot) SupeRx Drugs and (16,100 square foot) Scotts 5 & 10. The single-screen Martin Theatre showed its first feature on June 6, 1968. It would re-open, as the Martin Twin, on May 2, 1975.
The "Showplace of Southern Kentucky" enjoyed its position as only fully-enclosed shopping center in the region for 12 years. A larger and more modern facility was dedicated on September 12, 1979. GREENWOOD MALL {2.3 miles southeast, in Bowling Green} enveloped approximately 570,000 leasable square feet, with an initial sixty-two stores and services.
By the early 1980s, competition from GREENWOOD MALL had sent BOWLING GREEN MALL into a downward spiral. Its north anchor, Castner-Knott, had defected to GREENWOOD MALL in February 1980. The shuttering of the BOWLING GREEN MALL Woolco, in January 1983, exacerbated the situation.
The Woolco spot was divided, with the southern (28,200 square foot) segment opening -as a Muskegon, Michigan-based Quality Farm & Fleet- in the spring of 1985. The northern (51,700 square foot) section was leased by Columbus, Ohio-based Big Lots. This store began business in August 1986. Quality Farm & Fleet was short-lived. It was replaced by a Richmond, Virginia-based Heilig-Meyers Furniture in March 1988, which closed in April 2001. The space was later leased as a locally-based Oak Furniture.
As all of this transpired, tenants came and went inside the mall. A & P closed in the late 1970s. The vacant Castner-Knott spot was leased as supermarket space; a Messick's Big Star, Schnucks SuperSaver and then Kroger. When a local Roses variety store was damaged by fire in September 1998, the old Castner-Knott space at BOWLING GREEN MALL was used for a temporary store.
The Scotts dime store had closed in the early 1970s and re-opened as a T.G. & Y. SupeRx Drugs morphed into Osco Drug, which was eventually replaced by Dollar General. The twin cinema was shuttered in the year 2000.
At this time, Western Kentucky University was planning on expanding their South Campus facilities. After considering a newly-built structure, they decided to repurpose the adjacent BOWLING GREEN MALL as laboratory and office space. The virtually vacant shopping center was sold to WKU in September 2001. Over 2 million dollars worth of renovations were carried out.
The revitalized shopping center re-opened, as the Western Kentucky University Center for Research & Development, in December 2002. Institutional tenants included the MCC Fluidized Bed Computer Lab, Applied Physics Institute, Small Business Incubator and IT Company & Materials Characterization Center.
A smattering of retail stores remained in business at the WKU facility; Big Lots, Big Lots Furniture, Dollar General and Oak Furniture. By June 2021, all had either closed for good or relocated away from the complex.
Sources:
The Bowling Green Daily News
The Park City Daily News (Bowling Green, Kentucky)
www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.hitcents.com
https://www.wku.edu/crd / Western Kentucky University Center for Research & Development
https://www.wbko.com
