Northpark Mall (Missouri)

Northpark Mall

Location	Joplin, Missouri, USA
Opening date	1972
Owner	CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.
No. of stores and services	115+
No. of anchor tenants	3
Total retail floor area	991,076 sq. ft. (92,073 m²)
Parking	5,000
No. of floors	1
Website	http://www.visitnorthparkmall.com

Northpark Mall is a regional mall located in Joplin, Missouri. The mall opened in 1972. It features more than 100 inline tenants, including a food court and four anchor stores (JCPenney, Sears, and two Macy's locations), as well as TJ Maxx. The mall is also the temporary home of Joplin High School. The anchor space last occupied by Steve & Barry's is vacant. Northpark Mall is managed by CBL & Associates Properties.

History

Northpark Mall opened in 1972,^[1] on Range Line Road on the east side of Joplin. At the time, the mall was anchored by Montgomery Ward to the north, JCPenney to the south, and local chain Newman's in the middle. Sears was later added adjacent to Montgomery Ward as a fourth anchor. Newman's became Heer's in 1987, the same year that a new wing was built, extending easternly from the JCPenney store. This new wing included two new anchors, Famous-Barr and Venture. In 1994, Heer's closed, and Famous-Barr moved its men's wear and home goods to the former Heer's space. After the closure of the Venture chain in 1998, its anchor at the mall was converted to Shopko, but it closed in the early 2000s following the closure of Montgomery Ward in 2001. Both Famous-Barr locations were re-branded as Macy's in 2006. Montgomery Ward remained vacant until mid-2007, when its space was split between TJ Maxx and Steve & Barry's,^[2] the latter of which closed in 2008.

Joplin High School

Following the 2011 Joplin tornado which destroyed Joplin High School, officials said juniors and senior in the 2011-12 class (and possibly later) would attend classes in a section of the mall.^[3][4] Classes began in the renovated former Shopko location on August 17, 2011.^[5]

References

1. ^ "Northpark Mall fact sheet". CBL & Associates Properties. http://cblproperties.com/SITEPL~1.NSF/ByAlphaAllInfoforWeb/Northpark+Mall. Retrieved 2009-02-05. ^{[dead link]}
2. ^ Brown, Hobie (2007-04-06). "Steve & Barry's awaits opening at Northpark". The Chart. http://media.www.thechartonline.com/media/storage/paper630/news/2007/04/06/News/Steve.Barrys.Awaits.Opening.At.Northpark-2826565.shtml. Retrieved 2009-02-05. 
3. ^ "Mall will be school for Joplin students displaced by tornado". Associated Press. KYTV. June 10, 2011. http://www.ky3.com/news/ky3-joplin-mall-becomes-school-for-tornado-students-20110610,0,3336611.story. 
4. ^ "Joplin juniors, seniors will attend school at mall in fall". Associated Press. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. June 10, 2011. http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_67fbce3e-9360-11e0-b9f0-0019bb30f31a.html. 
5. ^ Zager, Alan Scher (August 17, 2011). "School starts in tornado-torn Joplin". Associated Press. WWLP-TV. http://www.wwlp.com/dpps/news/national/midwest/tornado-stricken-joplin-takes-back-to-school-break-nt11-jgr_3914918.