Eastwood Mall
Eastwood Mall was one of the earliest American shopping malls and the first enclosed mall in the Southeast. Located on Crestwood Boulevard (Highway 78) near I-20 and the suburb of Irondale, the mall opened in 1960 with tenants such as J.J. Newberry's (a five and dime chain), a Kroger supermarket, a Colonial Stores grocery, and local chain Hill's Food Stores (which evolved into Winn-Dixie). The mall had no major department store anchors until the mid-1960s and 1970s. Anchors that have been connected to the center over time include Parisian, Pizitz (later known as McRae's), Yielding's and Service Merchandise.
Eastwood Mall was the creation of Newman H. Waters, who owned a chain of drive-in theaters in the Birmingham area, including one adjacent to where Eastwood was built.
For quite some time, the mall was unique in that it had two cafeterias under the same name and management, one at each end of the mall; Barber Dairies was the original owner, who later sold out to Britling Cafeterias, who themselves sold one cafeteria to another operator and closed the other. The 48-lane Eastwood Lanes bowling center, the Aeromarine boat dealership, and a small amusement park with miniature golf called Funtown were located across the parking lot from the west end of the mall.
A movie theater opened on Christmas Day 1964 and was equipped to show Cinerama movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Ice Station Zebra. The Mall Theater was the site of the premiere of the 1976 film Stay Hungry, which was set and filmed in Birmingham. Then unknown actor Arnold Schwarznegger attended the premiere.
At the time of its 1966 expansion to 70 stores, Eastwood Mall was believed to be the largest enclosed mall in the Deep South. In 1967, Newman Waters sold Eastwood Mall to Alabama Farm Bureau (today known as ALFA), which owned the property until the mid 1980s.
Eastwood Mall was once one of the leading malls in Birmingham, remaining enormously successful for 30 years and continuing to hold its own in the 1990s. No longer able to compete with larger malls, and facing decline in the Irondale area plus the bankuptcy of Service Merchandise, the mall began to fade after 2000 and was finally closed in 2004, with the remaining anchor, Parisian closing soon after.
Wal-Mart has bought the property from Lehman Brothers (the last owner of Eastwood Mall), and plans to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter on the site. Demolition of the mall is scheduled for June 2006.
References
- "Eastwood Mall." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 17 May 2006, 19:40 UTC. 17 May 2006, 19:41 [1].