Nashville's Harding Mall

Nashville's HARDING MALL, formally dedicated in June 1966, was the Volunteer State's first fully-enclosed shopping center. It was followed by Memphis' SOUTHLAND MALL (inaugurated in August 1966) and Nashville's 100 OAKS MALL (which debuted in October 1967).
Graphic from the Harding Mall Corporation

Plans for HARDING MALL were announced in the summer of 1962. Ground was broken in the spring of 1963. Apparently, construction did not get underway immediately, because the mall's first store did not open until August of 1965.
Drawing from the Harding Mall Corporation

Anchoring HARDING MALL was a Nashville-based Castner-Knott. The original store, opened in March 1966, consisted of a single level and 57,500 square feet. It was expanded -to 2 levels and 107,500 square feet- as part of a 1973 renovation.

Drawing from the Mercantile Stores Company  

A rare peek inside the HARDING MALL Castner-Knott shows the Ladies' Sportswear department. 

Photo from Mercantile Stores Company, Incorporated Annual Report 1966 

A circa-1969 site plan includes the new Capri Theatre. At this time, the shopping complex encompassed around 185,000 leasable square feet and housed twenty-two stores and services. Free parking was provided for 1,600 autos.

HARDING MALL TENANTS 1969:

CASTNER-KNOTT (with House & Garden Shop, Castner's Kettle restaurant and beauty salon)  / G.C. MURPHY 5 & 10 (with luncheonette) / A & P supermarket / Baker & Baker Employment Service / Capri Theater (single screen) / Family Booterie / Firestone Auto Center / First American National Bank (outparcel) / Harding Mall Barber Shop / Harding Mall Grand Prix Raceway / Happiness House Books & Gifts / Jo-Ann Fabrics / Music Land of Harding Mall Record Shop / Radio Shack / State Farm Insurance Agency / The Flaming Pit Restaurant / The Happiness House Books, Gifts & Cards / Thom McAn Shoes / Togue Uchido Studio / Twenty-One, Limited apparel / Walgreen Drug (with Walgreen Grill) / Webster Clothes For Men

The only major renovation ever performed at HARDING MALL was done between early 1989 and mid-1990. As part of the 9 million dollar project, three individual shopping concourses were connected with a wrap-around mallway. The north and south sides of the complex were expanded, a 6-screen theater installed and freestanding Chi-Chi's Mexican Restaurant built.

The Main Entrance, which accessed the West Mall.
Photo from "Sarabellum"

This West Mall snapshot shows the HARDING MALL Dillard's in operation.
Photo from www.labelscar.com / "Prange Way"

Here we see the same store after its April 2005 shuttering.
Photo from "Sarabellum"

International House of Pancakes, an outparcel of HARDING MALL, opened in 1995.
Photo from Davidson County, Tennessee 

HARDING MALL was given a wrecking ball renovation in 2005. The past-its-prime property was replaced by the Wal-Mart SuperCenter seen here. It opened for business in April 2007.
Photo from Davidson County, Tennessee 

HARDING MALL
Nolensville Pike / US 31-A and 41-A and Harding Place
Nashville, Tennessee

The first enclosed shopping center in Tennessee was built in the Paragon Mills section of the Music City. News of the complex was first reported in July 1962. It would occupy 25 acres of a 46-acre parcel, located 2.7 miles south of the Volunteer State State House. HARDING MALL was being developed by the Harding Mall Corporation, a joint venture of several Atlanta-based investors headed by Raymond Sanders. 

Ground was broken on April 26, 1963. The 2.5 million dollar shopping center would encompass approximately 185,000 leasable square feet, contain over twenty stores and services, and maintain free parking for 1,600 autos. Construction proceeded very slowly on the project. Its first operational store, a (20,000 square foot) A & P supermarket, wouldn't open until August 18, 1965. 

A 1-level (57,500 square foot), Nashville-based Castner-Knott was inaugurated on March 14, 1966. G.C. Murphy's 1-level (30,000 square foot) store opened its doors on June 2nd. Among twenty charter tenants were First American National Bank, Happiness House Books & Gifts, Myrtle Spaulding ladies' ready-to-wear and Harding Mall Grand Prix Model Car Raceway. 

Store space on the South Mall was configured as the Martin Theatres Capri, which showed its first feature on March 26, 1969. The cinema re-opened as the Capri Twin on December 8, 1978 and was shuttered in 1989. 

Meanwhile, a first expansion of the shopping center had been completed on November 8, 1973. Castner-Knott had a second level added., which increased its floor area to 107,500 square feet. By mid-1976, the G.C. Murphy store had replaced by a Nashville-based Service Merchandise annex. This store was retenanted by Massachusetts-based Marshalls on May 5, 1983.

Commercial competitors of HARDING MALL were all regional-class centers. In order of their openings, they were; 100 OAKS MALL (1967) {2.5 miles northwest, in Nashville}, MALL AT GREEN HILLS (1968 and 1991) {5.1 miles northwest, in Nashville} and HICKORY HOLLOW MALL (1978) {4.1 miles southeast, in Nashville}.

HARDING MALL changed hands in December 1988. The new proprietors were the David Miller Development Company (of Brentwood, Tennessee) and Robert R. Brown  & Associates and R.G. Moore (of Virginia Beach). They immediately announced a major HARDING MALL renovation. Designed by the McLeary German firm of Houston, Texas, the 8 million dollar project would be completed in two phases. 

During Phase One, three individual shopping concourses would be connected with a wrap-around mallway. The north and south sides of the complex would be enlarged, with the interior completely refurbished. New ceilings, skylights, signage and flooring would be installed and the store count increased from thirty-two to forty-five. 

First phase construction got underway in March 1989. New mall stores included Dress Barn, Mollye's dress shop, Luby's Cafeteria, CPI Photo, Village Jewelers, Sears Portrait Studio, a Visions hair salon and Jenney Craig figure salon. As part of the second renovation phase, A & P -which had morphed into the Bingo Castle- was gutted and enlarged. The building now housed the Carmike Cinemas Carmike 6, which opened for business on May 4, 1990. 

Two freestanding bistros were also built in the west parking area. Chi-Chi's Mexican restaurant opened in July 1990, with an IHOP (International House of Pancakes) serving its first meals in September 1995. Chi-Chi's eventually closed and was replaced by Fuddruckers.

Castner-Knott had revamped their HARDING MALL store, with its grand re-opening being held on November 13, 1994. HARDING MALL now encompassed approximately 350,000 leasable square feet and contained fifty-seven store spaces. Castner-Knott, and its Mercantile Stores parent company, were eventually acquired by Dillard's. The HARDING MALL store re-opened with a Dillard's nameplate on August 13, 1998. 

By this time, HARDING MALL was in decline. The Carmike 6 closed on August 24, 2000. It became the Barnabas Cinemas El Cine, the city's first ethnic movie house, on November 2, 2002, but was shuttered within a few years. The moribund mall had been outpositioned by its newer and larger competitors. 

A demolition plan was announced in July 2004. Luby's Cafeteria served its last meal in September 2004. The few remaining inline stores shut down in March 2005, with Dillard's going dark in April. Demolition of the mall proper commenced in August 2005, with two outparcel structures left standing. A 1-level (205,200 square foot) Wal-Mart SuperCenter opened on the site on April 18, 2007.

Sources:

The Nashville Tennessean

The Nashville Banner
http://www.labelscar.com / "Prange Way"
https://www.cinematreasures.org
Nashville-Davidson County tax assessor website

Nashville's 100 Oaks Center

The Capital City's second fully-enclosed shopping center was dedicated in October 1967. 100 OAKS CENTER covered 850,000 leasable square feet and housed sixty stores and services. There was free parking for 4,000 autos.
Graphic from Belz Enterprises

The 100 Oaks Thompson Mansion, which stood on the site where the mall would be developed. The log structure was demolished in late 1965, as the shopping center's construction was getting underway.
Photo from http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu / House Organ magazine / "When Hundred Oaks Was Home"

By this time, a sign had been erected which announced the mall-to-be.
Photo from http://contentdm.atib.com / Nashville Public Library Digital Collections

100 OAKS CENTER at the time of its October 1967 grand opening. The 15 million dollar facility, which included the 6-story 100 Oaks Office Tower, was the largest mall in the Volunteer state between 1967 and 1971.
Drawing from http://nashlinks.com 

We included this graphic not only because it showed some really groovy 1960s store design. It is also an historical documentation of English words no longer in use...at least in the United States. Back in the day, a "toggery" would have sold apparel -or "togs."
Drawing from Belz Enterprises

 

The original 100 OAKS was configured with a lower floor, known as the Powell Avenue Level, and upper floor, designated as its Mall Level. On the periphery were a freestanding Penneys Auto Center, two bank branches, Giant Foods supermarket and Theatre Building. This housed a barber shop, restaurant and single-screen Martin Theatre.

100 OAKS CENTER TENANTS 1968:

IN MALL:
J.C. PENNEY (with Beauty Salon, Coffee Shop and freestanding Auto Center) / HARVEY's (with Beauty Salon) / WOOLCO (with snack bar) / F.W. WOOLWORTH 5 & 10 (with luncheonette) / Alpenhaus Restaurant / Baker's Qualicraft Shoes / Barracini Candies / Bell Brothers Shoes / Casual Corner / Dealy Roarke Personnel / Dury's Camera / England's Barber Shop / European Coiffures / Family Bootery / Flagg Brothers Shoes / Garrett Rexall Drugs (with luncheonette) / Greet & Sweet Shop / W. Harris, Limited ladies' wear / Karl's Shoes / Kay Jewelers / La Petite Cafe / Levy's men's wear / Magnavox Home Entertainment Center / Mermod, Jaccard & King Jewelry Company / Mills Book Store / Model Shoe Rebuilders / Motherhood Maternity / National Shirt Shops / Nina Shops ladies' wear / Portraits By Puckett / Radio Shack / Romay Ladies' Fashions / Schwartz's 100 Delicatessen & Sandwich Shop / Shop of John Simmons Gifts & Accessories / Singer Sewing Center / So-Fro Fabrics / Spencer Gifts / Thom McAn Shoes / Toggery Shops / Webster's men's wear  

IN THEATRE BUILDING:
100 Oaks Barber Shop / Walter Batey Sales-Loans-Appraisals / Enzor Travel Service / Martin Theatre (single screen) / St. Clair's Restaurant / State Farm Insurance / Town & Country Cleaners / Wash Tub Laundromat

OTHER OUTPARCELS:
Commerce Union Bank / First American National Bank / Giant Foods  

100 OAKS was successful for several years. When the adjacent Interstate 65 expressway was built, no exit to the mall was included. This "you can't get there from here" access problem contributed to a decline of traffic at the shopping hub. In efforts to increase patronage, new graphics were created. The first appeared around 1975. The second, from 1985, accompanied a name change to 100 OAKS MALL.
Graphics from Belz Enterprises     

Nevertheless, the complex was on life support by the mid-1980s. Woolco and J.C. Penney had gone south, along with several inline stores. A bold renovation plan was announced in May 1987. The property would be rebuilt, retenanted and renamed NASHVILLE FASHION GALLERIA. This concept never got off the ground. The 20-percent-leased shopping center closed in 1991.
Drawing from Belz Enterprises

A long-delayed remodeling finally got underway in 1995. The mall's exterior was refurbished in a brightly-colored industrial motif.
Photo from http://mallmanac.blogspot.com / 1998 100 Oaks brochure

Likewise, the interior was painted using the same palette. In this image, we see the 2-story Main Entrance area, which had been known as The Great Hall in the original mall.
Photo from https://www.greshamsmith.com / Gresham Smith & Partners

The Upper Level in the late '90s version of 100 OAKS MALL.
Photo from https://www.greshamsmith.com / Gresham Smith & Partners

The 100 OAKS moniker was retained for the new power center-outlet mall. Its Lower Level housed seven big box stores. The Upper Level featured a J.C. Penney Catalog Outlet and Saks Fifth Avenue Off Fifth.

The Regal Cinemas Hollywood 27 opened for business in January 1998. The movie megaplex was built south of the mall, on a pad adjacent to where the old Martin Theatre once stood.
Photo from https://cinematreasures.org / Jack Coursey

A circa-2002 aerial of 100 OAKS MALL shows the proximity of the shopping hub to the Interstate 65 expressway on the left. The gigantic Hollywood 27 theater may be seen at the bottom of the image.

Photo from www.belz.com / Belz Enterprises

 

The power center-outlet mall was successful for a time, but it was soon in another downward spiral. The virtually vacant mall was re-reinvented between 2008 and 2009. Four big box spaces on the Upper and Lower Levels were retenanted. The bulk of the Upper was gutted and rebuilt as VANDERBILT HEALTH, a consortium of nineteen medical clinics. 

 

Above and below are views of today's ONE HUNDRED OAKS MALL-VANDERBILT HEALTH complex. Here we see the Main Entrance.
Photo from Wikipedia / Eric Ventress

The Great Hall, as it appears in the 2020s. A set of escalators provide access to the upper floor VANDERBILT HEALTH medical clinic. The lower level is still devoted entirely to retail.
Photo from http://www.healthcaredesignmagazine.com

100 OAKS CENTER
Thompson Lane and Powell Avenue
Nashville, Tennessee

Named for the 100 Oaks Thompson Mansion that it replaced, Nashville's second fully-enclosed shopping center occupied a 51.7-acre parcel. This plot was located 3 miles south of the Volunteer State State House and was adjacent to the city's Berry Hill district. 

100 OAKS CENTER was developed by the Memphis-based Belz Investment Corporation and designed by Belz & McFarland Architects. Ground was broken in November 1965. The first operational store, a 1-level (140,000 square foot) Woolco discount mart, opened its doors on November 16, 1966. Peripheral businesses included a (60,000 square foot) Giant Foods, which also opened on November 16th, and the Martin Theatres Martin Theatre 100 Oaks, which showed its first feature on December 25th.

In its original state, the mall encompassed approximately 850,000 leasable square feet and was Tennessee's largest shopping hub. It was basically a strip-type complex of exterior-entranced stores with an enclosed mall on its upper floor. Aside from Woolco, it was anchored by a 3-level (140,000 square foot) J.C. Penney and 3-level (64,800 square foot) Nashville-based Harvey's.

A mall-wide dedication was held on October 26, 1967. An oak tree sapling had been taken from the site and was replanted outside the mall as part of the dedication ceremony. In attendance were US Representative Richard Harmon Fulton (D), Beverly Briley (Mayor of Nashville), mall developer Jack Belz, Phillip Belz (president of the Belz Investment Corporation) and several department store officials and dignitaries.

Forty-six stores joined eleven already in business. There would eventually be a total of sixty. Charter tenants included Garrett Rexall Drug, Baker's Shoes, Toggery Shops, Le Petite Cafe, Spencer Gifts, Family Bootery, England's Barber Shop, Casual Corner ladies' wear and a 2-level (42,000 square foot)  F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10. The mall proper also included the 6-story 100 Oaks Office Tower.

Early commercial competitors of 100 OAKS were RIVERGATE MALL (1971) {13.7 miles northeast, in Goodlettsville} and HICKORY HOLLOW MALL (1978) {6.7 miles southeast, in Nashville}.

100 OAKS CENTER was adjacent to the future route of the Interstate 65 expressway. When the thoroughfare opened to traffic in the mid-1970s, no direct interchange between said highway and mall was provided. The nearest junction was over a mile away. Due to this lack of access, as well as growing competition from newer shopping centers, 100 OAKS entered its first downward spiral. 

 

Woolco shut down, along with the entire chain, in January 1983. The vacant building was reconfigured with an extended Mall Level concourse flanked by fifteen new inline stores. Burlington Coat Factory set up shop in the south end of the building in November 1983. The name of the struggling shopping hub was changed to 100 OAKS MALL in 1985. In spite of this, it continued on a downward spiral. Penney's shuttered their store on January 31, 1986. 

 
New Interstate 65 interchanges opened at Thompson Lane and Armory Oaks Drive in August 1987. The mall was now "freeway friendly," although it continued to founder. The cinema, which had been twinned in December 1978, closed for good in 1989. The Harvey's chain was acquired -and rebranded- by Virginia's Peebles company in 1988. The 100 OAKS store went dark in 1990. 

At this time, newer and larger malls were being built in -and around- Nashville. These included BELLEVUE CENTER (1990) {10.2 miles southwest, in Nashville}, MALL AT GREEN HILLS (1968 and 1991) {2.6 miles west, in Nashville} and COOL SPRINGS GALLERIA (1991) {10.5 miles south, in Franklin}. 

100 OAKS MALL was shuttered in 1991. After 3 years in limbo, a floor-to-ceiling renovation got underway in late 1994. The complex was re-imagined as a hybrid power center and outlet mall. The old Woolco building was reconfigured again. The inline stores and mall concourse were gutted. Burlington Coat Factory relocated into an 85,000 square foot space in the northern end of the building.  

A new & improved 100 OAKS MALL debuted on October 27, 1995. The Lower Level featured CompUSA, Michaels, T. J. Maxx, PetSmart, Media Play and Luxury Linens. Upper Level stores included Saks Fifth Avenue Off Fifth, a Reebok Outlet, J.C. Penney Catalog Outlet and the Food Factory Food Court.

Cobb Theatres initiated construction of a freestanding movie megaplex, which was being built in the mall's south parking lot. The partially-completed structure was acquired by Regal Cinemas, who opened it, as the Regal Hollywood 27, on January 16, 1998. At the time, the megaplex was billed as the largest movie theater in the eastern United States. It was refurbished in 2013, when it was renamed the Regal Hollywood Stadium 27 & RPX.

Meanwhile, the opening of OPRY MILLS MALL {7.4 miles northeast, in Nashville}, in the year 2000, caused most Upper Level tenants at 100 OAKS to relocate to the new shopping hub. Soon, 100 OAKS was in its second downward spiral.

Dallas, Texas' ATR & Associates purchased the struggling shopping center in December 2006. 440,000 square feet were leased to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in July 2007. A 90 million dollar interior and exterior face lift got underway in April 2008. 

The shopping hub's Upper Level -excluding Burlington Coat Factory- was rebuilt as a medical mall. New flooring, seating, windows and skylights were installed. The mall's front facade was remodeled, with new landscaping and parking area entrances added. Logan's Roadhouse and Panera Bread locations were built in the periphery. 

 

The first of nineteen medical clinics opened in late 2008, with the remainder being in operation by mid-2009. The medical and retail facility was now promoted as 100 OAKS MALL-VANDERBILT HEALTH.

Along with the renovation came the shutterings of several Lower Level stores. Media Play closed in early 2006 and re-opened, as an hhgregg, in November 2009. CompUSA and Luxury Linens folded in 2007. Their space was divided between Kirkland's and Reebok Outlet and K & G Fashion Superstore, which relocated from the Upper Level. 

 

ATR & Associates sold 100 OAKS to Chicago-based LaSalle Investment Management in November 2012. The Burlington store closed for good in the mid-2020s.

Sources:

The Nashville Tennessean

NashvilleLinks.com / Chip Curley
http://www.NashvillePost.com / "100 Oaks Mall Has A New Owner" / Richard Lawson / December 6, 2006

https://www.padctn.org / Metropolitan Nashville & Davidson County Real Property Search

http://onehundredoaksmall.com
https://www.cinematreasures.org
https://www.movie-theatre.org
https://www.vanderbilthealth.com

https://www.bizjournals.com