Park Road Shopping Center is an open air

strip mall A strip mall, strip center or strip plaza is a type of shopping center common in North America where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front. ...

located in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. It is located northeast of the intersection of Woodlawn Rd. and Park Rd. in the south central part of Charlotte. Park Road Shopping Center has a nostalgic ambience, which is sustained by the pipe shop, soda shop, shoe repair shop, and many other stores that date back to the

Post-World War II baby boom The middle of the 20th century was marked by a significant and persistent increase in fertility rates in many countries of the world, especially in the Western world. The term ''baby boom'' is often used to refer to this particular boom, generally ...

era.

History

Park Road Shopping Center opened up on November 15, 1956 and was Charlotte's very first open area-type shopping mall. Developed by A.V. Blankenship, it is typical of Mid-Century modern architecture and the original billboard sign remains today. When the mall was first envisioned, it was considered to be a shift in area business development. At this time period most of the shopping areas were still located in and around downtown Charlotte. Meanwhile, more and more people continued to move to the suburbs and outlying areas of the city. This has been the catalyst that has kept the shopping center successful to this day. Park Road Shopping Center is a very bustling mall and serves many of the surrounding Charlotte neighborhoods such as Myers Park, Barclay Downs, Parkdale, Colonial Village, Madison Park,

Sedgefield Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham. History Roman A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered by C ...

, Ashbrook, and Starmount. In 1967 a local attorney named Porter Byrum bought Park Road Shopping Center. On June 16, 2011 Mr. Byrum announced that Park Road Shopping Center would be donated to 3 local colleges (

Queens University of Charlotte The Queens University of Charlotte is a private university in Charlotte, North Carolina. It has approximately 2,300 undergraduate and graduate students through the College of Arts and Sciences, the McColl School of Business, the Wayland H. Cato, ...

Wingate University Wingate University is a private Baptist university with campuses in Wingate, Charlotte, and Hendersonville, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (Southern Baptist Convention). The university enroll ...

, and

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

). Mr. Byrum had held ownership of the shopping center for nearly 44 years. Just one month later these 3 colleges sold the shopping center for $82 million to EDENS, a shopping center operator and developer.Landmark Park Road Shopping Center is sold for $82 million (Charlotte Observer)
Despite these sudden changes in ownership, it is expected that the shopping center will continue on as is. It is easy to walk or bike to the Park Road Shopping Center since it lies on the

Little Sugar Creek Greenway Little Sugar Creek Greenway is a linear park and stream restoration project in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. When completed it will consist of twenty miles of trails and paved walkways running from Cordelia Park just north of uptown Charlo ...

. In 2014 the center underwent a renovation. It was painted white, given wooden features, outdoor seating was added and the covered walkways got new lighting and floor treatment.

References

External links

Park Road Shopping Center (official website)Aerial view of Park Road Shopping Center from Google MapsBing Maps birds eye view of the mall
{{Charlotte malls Shopping malls in Charlotte, North Carolina Shopping malls established in 1956