Turfland Mall was an enclosed

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

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

, United States. Opened in 1967 as the first shopping mall in Lexington, the mall closed in 2008.

History

Turfland Mall opened in August 1967 as the first enclosed mall in Lexington. The mall's original anchor stores included

Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a world-pioneering mail-order business and later also a leading department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001. The curren ...

, Grant City and

McAlpin's McAlpin's was a Cincinnati-based department store founded in 1852 as Ellis, McAlpin & Co. McAlpin's opened their landmark downtown location on Fourth Street in 1880. In 1954, McAlpin's became the first Cincinnati department store to open a suburba ...

. Grant City closed in 1976 and was replaced by

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...

the same year. Loews closed its theater at the mall in 1990, and JCPenney moved to replace

Hess's Hess's was a department store chain based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company started in 1897 with one store, originally known as Hess Brothers, and grew to nearly 80 stores by its peak in the late 1980s. The chain's stores were closed or sold ...

at nearby

Fayette Mall Fayette Mall is a regional shopping mall in Lexington, Kentucky, located at 3401 Nicholasville Road in southern Lexington. It is the largest mall in the state of Kentucky. The mall's anchor stores are Macy's, JCPenney, Dick's Sporting Goods, and D ...

in 1993. In 1997, Rubloff Development Group of

Hoffman Estates, Illinois Hoffman Estates is a village in Illinois, United States. The village is located primarily in Cook County, with a small section in Kane County. It is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 52,530. The village now serves a ...

acquired the mall and began $5 million worth of renovations. A year later, the parent company of McAlpin's was acquired by Dillard's, who converted all locations to the Dillard's name. Dillard's later opened a Dillard's for the Home store in the former JCPenney space as well. Montgomery Ward was shuttered in 2000, with its space soon being converted to The Home Depot. Dillard's for the Home closed in April 2008, and Dillard's closed June 22, 2008. GNC, the last remaining retail unit within the mall, closed July 31, 2008, and the mall itself finally closed on October 1.

Planned Redevelopment, Foreclosure, and Future

In 2009, Property owners Rubloff of Lexington announced plans to redevelop the mall into a multipurpose commercial complex featuring office spaces, retail stores, and residential spaces. The redevelopment was to be called Turfland Town Center, which would retain the Home Depot and Staples buildings. Rubloff requested 39 Million dollars in tax increment funding for public improvement. These plans were canceled due to the inability to find a replacement store for Dillard's. In 2012, with Staples as the only remaining tenant operating on the original mall property, Heritage Bank of Hopkinsville sued Rubloff of Lexington for foreclosure. In August 2012,

LexTran Lextran (officially the Transit Authority of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government) is a public transportation transit bus, bus system serving Lexington, Kentucky. Lextran operates 25 bus routes throughout the city of Lexington. Buses con ...

announced they would discontinue the portion of route to the mall. In December 2012, the mall was purchased by Turf Development, a company owned by Lexington businessman Ron Switzer, for $6 million. While plans are still being developed, Switzer did establish that it will include razing of the enclosed portion of the building. As of June 2016, Turfland Mall has been transformed to a UK Health Clinic, along with numerous other stores, including Longhorn, Chick Fil-A, City BBQ, Burger King, O'Charley's, The Home Depot, Staples, and Walgreens. Future plans are to add more restaurants in the remaining empty space.

References

External links

Turfland Mall on Deadmalls.com
{{Shopping malls in Kentucky Shopping malls in Kentucky Shopping malls established in 1967 Shopping malls disestablished in 2008 Commercial buildings in Lexington, Kentucky Defunct shopping malls in the United States 1967 establishments in Kentucky 2008 disestablishments in Kentucky