Boca Mall Became Sign Of Decline

Q: Wasn’t there an old mall in Boca Raton before Mizner Park?
A: The Boca Raton mall came to become a symbol of a dilapidated downtown that was due for a big makeover. The mall, which opened in 1973, had become a rundown eyesore. One resident described it as a “big blimp hangar” by the time it was razed in August 1989, making way for the tony shopping and
entertainment complex.
The $13 million, 30-acre mall had been hailed as just the thing to put burgeoning Boca Raton, then at 30,000 people, on the map and offer an alternate to the nearby, high-brow Royal Palm Plaza.
Nostalgia-lovers will recall the Jefferson and Britts department stores, along with a Walgreen’s and small specialty stores and eateries, plus the Caldwell Theater Company.
But the mall was plagued by poor management, flood-prone parking lots and unpopular store selection. On top of that, downtown was falling victim to the push to the suburbs. The mall was never fully rented, and the failure of its two anchor stores ended any chance of recovery.
The mall’s execution was stayed by a lone holdout: the Dive Bar, a popular 2-year-old seafood joint and casual saloon. Eventually, the bar stood surrounded by rubble and a fence while the courts sorted out the impasse. The Dive’s owner finally settled, and it, and the mall, came down, to be replaced by Mizner Park, which opened in 1990.
Boca Raton Historical Society: 395-6766.
Read More: Boca Raton: A Pictorial History, by Donald Curl and John Johnson.