The Heart of Huntsville Mall was a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

located in

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in t ...

, United States. It opened in 1961. The mall was demolished in 2007 to make way for a new $150 million

mixed-use development Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...

called "Constellation."

History

The Heart of Huntsville Mall was the first enclosed shopping mall in Huntsville when it opened in 1961. The single-story complex was built just outside downtown at the intersection of Clinton Avenue and Memorial Parkway. Its major tenant was a

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

at the southern end of the mall. Heart of Huntsville hosted many community events over the years including several Scout Expos and craft fairs. The long-running

Delta Zeta Delta Zeta (, also known as DZ) is an international college sorority founded on October 24, 1902, at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Delta Zeta has 170 collegiate chapters in the United States and Canada, and over 200 alumnae chapters in Cana ...

Arts and Crafts Show began in 1967 with roughly 100 booths at Heart of Huntsville Mall. The mall prospered for decades until the opening of

Madison Square Mall Madison Square Mall was a shopping mall in Huntsville, Alabama, United States. The largest in the city, it encompassed over . It was also the oldest extant enclosed shopping mall (after the Heart of Huntsville Mall closed) in the city until its ...

in west Huntsville in 1984. Sears moved to Madison Square and, over time, other tenants would close as well. The

Woolworth's Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to: Businesses * F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores * Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shops ...

closed in 1992. As major chain stores closed, local businesses moved in to take advantage of lower rents. In the late 1990s the center was renamed "Market Square." The two anchor tenants were

Burlington Coat Factory Burlington, formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory, is an American national off-price department store retailer, and a division of Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation with more than 1,000 stores in 40 states and Puerto Rico, with it ...

and

Gold's Gym Gold's Gym International, Inc. is an American chain of international co-ed fitness centers (commonly referred to as gyms) originally started by Joe Gold in Venice Beach, California. Each gym offers a variety of cardio and strength training equipm ...

with various smaller tenants including a club called "721," an exercise equipment shop, and Ivey's Restaurant. In the early 2000s the owner of the mall, Scott McLain, began plans to redevelop the center. He had recently completed a redevelopment of " The Mall", just north of Heart of Huntsville, into a power center with tenants such as

Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational corporation, multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the l ...

and

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation (doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores (warehouse club). As of 2022, Costco i ...

. By mid-2007, all but one of the tenants, a tanning salon, had moved out of the mall to make way for a $150 million mixed-use development called "Constellation."

Future

By September 2007, all of the former Heart of Huntsville Mall was razed to make way for Constellation, a mixed-use development that is projected to include retail, restaurants, two five-story, 160-room hotels (a

Residence Inn by Marriott Residence Inn by Marriott is a brand of extended stay hotels. , there were 874 Residence Inn hotels in the United States, Canada and Mexico with 107,680 rooms, plus an additional 243 hotels with 30,417 rooms in the development pipeline. The brand ...

and a

SpringHill Suites SpringHill Suites is a brand operated by Marriott International offering all-suite hotels that target the upper-moderate lodging tier of the industry. As of June 30, 2020, it has 470 hotels with 55,595 rooms in addition to 187 hotels with 21,307 ...

), of office space, and a seven-story condo/apartment tower with up to 80 residential units. The complex will also include a multi-deck parking garage. The developer had initially suggested that restaurants on the site might include a

Hard Rock Cafe Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a British-based multinational chain of theme restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and rol ...

Cheesecake Factory The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is an American restaurant company and distributor of cheesecakes based in the United States. The company operates 219 full-service restaurants: 206 under The Cheesecake Factory brand and 13 under the Grand Lux C ...

but in November 2007 he announced that these concepts were unsuitable for the market and other concepts were being researched. In January 2008, Huntsville City Council president Glenn Watson suggested that the site might also be a good home for a new City Hall. Site construction on the project began in the Spring of 2008, with completion expected in 2010. McLain told ''

The Huntsville Times ''The Huntsville Times'' is a thrice-weekly newspaper published in Huntsville, Alabama, and printed in Birmingham, Alabama. It also serves the surrounding areas of north Alabama's Tennessee Valley region. The ''Times'' formerly operated as an af ...

'' that the name Constellation is "a nod to Huntsville's space heritage, while also reflecting that it offers a 'collection' of venues, just as a constellation is a collection of stars." Construction on the

began in August 2008 with a

Courtyard by Marriott Courtyard by Marriott is a brand of hotels owned by Marriott International. One of Marriott's mid-priced brands, the hotels are primarily targeted to business travelers, but also accommodate traveling families. Rooms have desks, couches, and fre ...

projected as "soon to follow". , only the SpringHill Suites is finished and open for business, but the rest of the development began construction in late 2020. The site includes a tree planted in 1961, the year the original mall opened, and the developer plans to continue to include this tree in the "Constellation" development. McLain is working to have the project

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...

(LEED) certified.

References

External links

Planned layout of the Constellation development
{{Shopping malls in Alabama Buildings and structures demolished in 2007 Demolished shopping malls in the United States Shopping malls established in 1961 Shopping malls disestablished in 2007 2007 disestablishments in Alabama Shopping malls in Huntsville, Alabama 1961 establishments in Alabama