Old Lakeland Mall Lakeland Fl.

[Kmart4life]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48215832@N07/4914258907/

[Kmart4life]

Pic from 1972 inside the Mall.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/empiricalpolk/267786730/

[Kmart4life]

Exterior of the Old Montgomery Wards section of the Mall.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48215832@N07/4865335468/

[Kmart4life]

Front doors to Wards!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48215832@N07/4864718283/

[Kmart4life]

Old Montgomery wards Auto Center
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48215832@N07/4914185801/

[Kmart4life]

LAKE PARKER MALL
East Memorial Boulevard / US 92 and North Lake Parker Avenue
Lakeland, Florida


Lakeland, Florida's first mall-type shopping center was constructed on a 33 acre site, situated .8 mile northwest of the center city, on the southern shore of Lake Parker.

LAKE PARKER MALL, developed by Miami-based Bob Howard and Associates, enveloped 400,000 leasable square feet and forty store spaces. Twenty of these opened for business in August 1971. The anchors were a predominantly 1-level (105,000 square foot) Montgomery Ward and 1-level (88,500 square foot) Woolco.

Inline stores at the single-level, fully-enclosed complex included Super X Drug, Hi-Tide Fish and Chips, GNC, GallenKamp Shoes, Jean Nicole, an S.H. Kress 5 and 10 and Winn-Dixie supermarket.

The 6 million dollar center suffered something of an identity crisis during its early years, as its name did not reflect its location within its respective city. This situation was corrected when the official name of the complex was changed to LAKELAND MALL in July 1974.

A small-scale renovation accompanied the name change, with mallways fitted with wall-to-wall carpeting and the center's exterior given a paint job.

LAKELAND MALL POST WOOLCO:

After Woolco's January 1983 closing, the store space sat vacant for over 4 years. Bentonville-based Sam's Club leased the space and opened, June 1, 1987, as the fifty-third store in the chain.

LAKELAND MALL basked in the Central Florida sun, as the only mall in, or around, the city, for 17 years. This came to an end in March 1988, with the grand opening of the 850,000 square foot -6-anchor- LAKELAND SQUARE {2.9 miles northwest, in Lakeland}.

Within a year, the older mall was 50 percent vacant. Montgomery Ward pulled the plug on its LAKELAND MALL location in 1991. In June 1993, Jean Nicole, the last inline store in operation, closed down. The December 1994 defection of Sam's Club, to a newly-built store north of town, signalled the bitter end.

The mall sat vacant and boarded up for over 4 years. On February 21, 1999, The First Baptist Church At The Mall held its first services in a renovated Montgomery Ward structure. Since this time, 2.3 million dollars have been spent renovating the mall into a non secular center for worship and congregation.

[Kmart4life]

Everyone disagreed with me but my mom confirmed that during it's latter stages and dying days there was also a Morrison's Cafeteria in the mall as well. And if I am not mistaken there was a Petland but I am not certain of that yet.

[Kmart4life]

I have had difficulty finding information on the mall but here is a list of stores that I have thanks to folks I have asked who actually remember.

Montgomery Wards 1966-1991
Woolco 1971-1983
Sam's Club
Radio Shack
Jean Nicole
Super X drug/Rite Aid
Hi Tide Fish and Chips
GNC (not confirmed)
Gallenkamp Shoes
S.H. Kress 5&10 store(S&H Green Stamps)
Winn-Dixie
Petland (not confirmed) although there was a pet store there.
Lakeland Twin Cinemas
Carousel Records
B Dalton Booksellers/Waldon Books
Food Court
I will post a few more pics of the current building that were taken this morning shortly.

[Kmart4life]

Here are pics taken with my camera today of what is now known as First Baptist Church At The Mall!

[Kmart4life]

2 more

[Kmart4life]

Here is the only picture with the Lakeland Mall name on the arch. Sorry for the bad quality it was taken from a newspaper article!

[Kmart4life]

This is the first incarnation of the Mall's sign with the Church name on it. Sorry for the poor quality again it is from a newspaper clipping!

[Kmart4life]

Another article on the church purchase of the mall. this maybe wrong because the newspaper claimed that the church barrowed and paid 8.9 million for the building.



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November 17, 2011

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Home > 1999 > June 14 Christianity Today, June 14, 1999  |   |  

Mall Gains Second Life As Church
By Mike Wilson. | posted 6/14/1999 12:00AM

Related articles and links |  1 of 1


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Spotting a member of one of Lakeland, Florida's largest churches is easy. They are the ones wearing T-shirts with the message "I'm one of those crazy Baptists that bought the mall."

The 4,000-member First Baptist Church recently moved from a conventional church building in downtown Lakelandâ€"where it had been for 95 yearsâ€"to the former Lakeland Mall, a 400,000-square-foot complex on Lake Parker. The church also took an unusual new name: First Baptist Church at the Mall. It holds worship services in what used to be a Montgomery Ward store. Two movie theaters at the mall soon will be used for family-oriented films and seminars. Space formerly occupied by Radio Shack, Hanover Shoes, and Hallmark stores is being transformed into Sunday-school classrooms and church offices.

"What once was a retail center where people bought things is now a spiritual center where the most important thing in life is offered free," says senior pastor Jay Dennis. "Some had their first dates there. Some bought a pet there. Now we have the opportunity to take what the world offered and use it with a spiritual perspective."

The church bought the mall for $5.6 million and has since spent $2.3 million on renovations, paying cash as it goes. The congregation will not be worshiping in Montgomery Ward for long. It is building a 2,400-seat worship center in a part of the mall that used to be a Sam's Club discount store.

[Kmart4life]

This is obviously the original twin cinemas left intact by the church.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48215832@N07/4573845182/

[Kmart4life]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48215832@N07/4564410922/

[Kmart4life]

More of the cinemas!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48215832@N07/4564409422/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48215832@N07/4563778891/

[Kmart4life]

Just found out that a seperate building behind the auto center was Chuck E Cheese at one time. And originally an 18,900 sq ft Winn Dixie.

[Kmart4life]

Got information from microfilm today but the one thing I wanted didn't come out to good and that was the pictures from 1971 during the Grand Opening. Also have an article from the paper that I got from microfilm that has to be scanned about the original owners looking for ideas on what to do with the mall one year after it closed.

[Kmart4life]

From June 2, 1987 Sam's Club opens in Lakeland Mall.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=84kwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=k_sDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2876%2C382435

[Kmart4life]

Lakeland Mall could have been something different prior to the church purchasing it.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=B7NNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Hv0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5014%2C6111167

[Kmart4life]

August 1, 1971 from The Ledger

[Kmart4life]

Here is a picture from The Ledger fom august 1, 1971 of Woolco.

[Kmart4life]

I will be picking up my research once again and posting what I find. I have found that there are no known photos from the church members.

[Kmart4life]

Just contacted the Bayberry Group Inc. in Glen Arbor MI. who owned the mall and they told me that if they have some archived information and pictures and I am more than welcome to them. Also he is contacting an architect who did some work for them in the early and mid 90's and those photos will be available to me as well.

[Kmart4life]

Here is a little tidbit about the Lakeland Mall 1&2 aka (Jerry Lewis Twin Cinemas)
in the old Lakeland Mall, the Jerry Lewis Twin Cinema opened in 1972. Later re-named Lakeland Mall I & II, it closed in 1983 and was purchased by new owners. The mall itself has closed since then and the First Baptist Church at the Mall operates from the building. The cinemas were 2 screens 600 seats.


drewconApril 20, 2010 at 1:06 am
Movie534, this theater was designed the same way as the one you worked at. Blue on one side and the other red, with the concession stand in the middle. The mall was turned into the “First Baptist Church at the Mall”. The theater still exists but it is used only for church functions. The theater is located at the back entrance of the former mall.

This theater was originally called the Jerry Lewis Twin Cinema (1972-1974). The name of the theater was changed to Lakeland Mall Twin Cinema in 1975 and closed under the same banner in 1992. Locals sometimes called the theater “Lakeland Mall I & II” or “Lakeland Mall”. The names where also used in some advertising. As far as I know it was independently owned & operated.

Jerry Lewis Cinemas were part of a chain of franchised independent theater owners. The Chain was controlled by Network Cinema Corp. By 1980, the chain was completely defunct, with both Jerry Lewis and the National Cinema Corporation filing for bankruptcy

[Kmart4life]

Found this online it is originally from Oct. 8, 1977

[Kmart4life]

After reading an article from the newspaper archives I can tell you that soon after opening in 1971 fire ravaged the facility and caused a million dollars in damage. And I also found a list of more stores that were slated to open there. Will post all of that soon!

[Kmart4life]

June 23, 1993 a sad day in Lakeland retail history!

[Kmart4life]

Here is a picture from 1971 around christmas time.



http://cdm15809.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15809coll7/id/185/rec/8

[Kmart4life]

Got this from mall of fame
http://mall-hall-of-fame.blogspot.com/2010/04/site-plan-of-original-complex-one-of.html