By the mid-'70s, OAK CLIFF CENTER had outlived its usefulness as a retail complex. The moribund mall was sold to the Dallas Independent School District, who reconfigured it as a collection of public schools and health and human services facilities. The newest tenant, Maya Angelou High School, opened its doors in the fall of 2011.
Graphic from https://www.dallasisd.org / Dallas Independent School District
A. HARRIS-OAK CLIFF CENTER
West Keist Boulevard and South Becker Avenue
Dallas, Texas
The first shopping mall in the Texas Metroplex was built on a 19-acre parcel. This was located 4.6 miles southwest of the Dallas Central Business District, in the South Oak Cliff section of the city. A. HARRIS-OAK CLIFF CENTER was developed by Arthur L. Kramer, Junior under the auspices of A. Harris & Company, of which he was president. The bi-level shopping complex was designed by Los Angeles' Welton Becket & Associates and the Smith & Mills firm, of Dallas.
An official groundbreaking was held on July 2, 1954, where a dedication was given by Robert Lee Thornton (Mayor of Dallas). The first shovel of earth was turned by Arthur Kramer. The mall's first stores opened for business in February 1956.
The open-air mall was anchored by a 3-level (103,000 square foot) A. Harris & Company department store. Junior anchors were a Neisner's 5 & 10, W.T. Grant variety store and Tom Thumb supermarket. Charter inline stores included Gaston Cafeteria, Bond Clothes, Walgreen Drug and a Slenderella Figure Salon.
Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores acquired Sanger Brothers in July 1951 and A. Harris & Company in February 1961. The two Texan chains merged. By late 1961, all Sanger's and Harris' stores had been rebranded with a Sanger-Harris nameplate.
OAK CLIFF CENTER was adjacent to US route 77. In December 1955, construction commenced on a project to rebuild the surface street as a grade-separated Interstate highway. The first segment of the new R.L. Thornton Freeeway South (a.k.a. Interstate 35E South) opened to traffic in May 1959. The section of highway passing by OAK CLIFF CENTER was officially dedicated on September 21, 1965.
Major shopping hubs in the OAK CLIFF CENTER trade area included WYNNEWOOD VILLAGE CENTER (1949) {1.2 miles northwest, in Dallas}, SOUTH OAK CLIFF CENTER (1960) [1.3 miles northeast, in Dallas}, WESTCLIFF MALL (1966) {1.9 miles southwest, in Dallas} and RED BIRD MALL (1975) {2 miles southwest, also in Dallas}.
RED BIRD MALL immediately put the hurt on OAK CLIFF CENTER, which had never been renovated, expanded or enclosed. In June 1975, its Sanger-Harris store shut down and relocated to new quarters in RED BIRD MALL. Several inline stores at OAK CLIFF CENTER followed suit.
By 1976, the shopping hub was virtually vacant. It was sold to the Dallas Independent School District, who renovated and reconfigured the complex as the Nolan Estes Educational Plaza. This facility opened in September 1978. It originally housed three separate school campuses; Joseph J. McMillan Elementary, John Leslie Patton, Junior Elementary and the Jimmy Tyler Brashear Middle School.
Over the years, schools in the former shopping mall opened and closed. These facilities included the A. Maceo Smith High School, Kathlyn Joy Gilliam Collegiate Academy and Hogg Foundation School of Tomorrow health & human services center. The complex also served as the temporary home of the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing & Visual Arts. On September 7, 2011, the new Maya Angelou High School campus was officially dedicated.
Sources:
The Dallas Morning News
https://texashistory.unt.edu / The Portal To Texas History
"Anyone In the Market for a Used Shopping Center?" / D Magazine / March 1975
https://www.reddit.com / "First Mall in Dallas but largely forgotten - A. Harris (Sanger-Harris) Shopping Center in Oak Cliff" / "rDallas"
http://dallasfreeways.com / Dallas-Fort Worth Freeways
http://phorum.dallashistory.org / "First Malls"
https://flashbackdallas.com / Flashback Dallas
https://dallaslibrary2.org / Dallas Public Library
https://www.dallasisd.org / Dallas Independent School District
https://oakcliff.advocatemag.com / Advocate Magazine / "Oak Cliff History: Before there was Red Bird, there was Westcliff" / Gayla Brooks / October 2014
https://www.wikiwand.com / "A. Maceo Smith High School"
