Coral Ridge Mall
Fort Lauderdale, Florida - circa '60s or '70s
Not a particularly flattering shot of Coral Ridge Mall (or any mall for that matter), but still. There it is. The round building in the center is the Keenan Building, by the way.
There really isn't a heck of a lot of info online about this mall, and I still see no official homepage for it anywhere, so the best details to be found currently are actually right here on this blog. MOA readers responded with some nice comments and background history when I profiled this mall last time, so if you're interested, I'd suggest you check it out and read the comments there. Some fun memories and good info to be gleaned if you're hankering for it.
Oh, and this Coral Ridge is not to be confused with the much newer mall of the same name out in Iowa. This is the older, cooler one. :)
History: ? - present
Current website: n/a
Current aerial view
Previous entries: 1
posted by Keith @ 2/22/2007
8 Comments:
Wow! Thanks to whomever submitted this gem! I would guesstimate this photo was taken no more than 5 years after the mall was completed. Coral Ridge Theatre Plitt opened in 1967 (just left of the Keenan).
Notice at all that undeveloped land with pastures? $$$$$$$$$$$
This picture almost makes me want to cry it's that good.
when I see a picture like this, I feel 5 and remember never to run in a parking lot!
If the color green wasn't present, I'd swear this postcard was black and white!
Scott
I concur, Rob - this is a great shot - and you're right about the Theatre (which is now an adult entertainment establishment,BTW, that leads a strange co-existence with some of the most expensive homes in the area surrounding it).
But, that undeveloped land is actually the Coral Ridge Golf Course - it's still there...
I'm thinking that the mall is a liitle older, though - I'd estimate '57-'60. Either way - this is so cool!
As this is essentially a north oriented picture... South of the round building you'll see a large undeveloped sandy area. On the sandy part near the road, they built a 76 gas station which was closed before I arrived in 83. immediately south of the gas station they built a 3 story apartment building in the early 70's. This left a narrow strip of sandy area between the nice houses and the apartment building which someone managed to cram some townhouses into in the late 80's. Directly east of the round building you'll see a building which was a seafood restaurant in 83 and is no longer there, converted to parking. SE of the sandy area i talked about you'll see a nice waterway which by the time I got there was dirty, icky and a home for the occasional transient. To the east of the sandy area you'll see a kind of V or U shaped shopping area. The undeveloped sandy areas were filled in with more buildings completing the V. They left a narrow alley that followed the entire "underside/backside" of the V from Oakland to Federal. This area was mostly fenced in after this photo, I assume to keep people from using it as a shortcut as you can see by the photo there are some pathways leading to the large motor lodge building. That lodge became quite dumpy in the 80's as well. The area directly south of the mall is called Times Square and housed a large variety of shops and businesses. Pizzerias, small supermarket, etc.
By the way, I lived in the apartment building they built on that sandy area for a long time. I know the area extremely well.
I remember Coral Ridge well - lived about 1 mile south for 7 years in the late 80's - mid 90's. The mall had a Britt's department store at the south end that went through several changes after the local chain went under - it housed a J Byron's, then a couple other stores. The north end had a small Penney's that was great for shopping if they had what you needed - I hated it when they went out of business in '94 if I recall correctly. There was a Publix Supermarket on the west side that was not attached to the mall, and an AMC movie center on the East side that was also separated by parking. I remember going to The Ground Round restaurant in the 70's in the mall parking lot that faced across Federal Highway from the Kenann building. I used to each lunch at it's replacement in the 90's - Who,Song and Larry's, which had a great and cheap Mexican buffet. I moved to Texas in '95, and last time I saw the mall a Target had come in and taken a lot of the mall space. If I also recall correctly the "adult entertainment place" that used to be the movie theatre was "thee doll house" which is mentioned in the Motley Crue song "Girls, girls girls...Thee doll house in ft lauderdale...it was a very strange mix of very upscale houses and townhomes in the area with the "classy" adult establishments in the same area. Good memories - thanks for the site!
I lived in Coral Ridge as a kid in 1964-1969 and have fond memories of the mall there. I go by everytime I go back. My friend Shelly and I walked there past the Coral Ridge golf course. The mall was on the other side of the course from my house. This was a hang out for the kids. I remember shopping at Britt's-I bought my first bra there! I also bought my first clothing by myself at Lerner's. The photo you have is older than 1964 as the area was more developed when I lived there.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Back then it was called Coral Ridge Shopping Center. The word "mall" for South Florida anyhow, didn't even exist then. It was built in the early 60's. Can't remember what year. Probably 60 or 61 and can't remember any other anchor stores, but when I was older I got my very first credit card at Britts. Still have it. Also when I was still riding my bike, me and my friends would peddle up to Britts on Saturday afternoons and watch a live TV show broadcast by I believe Ch.4, from the second floor from a real live studio they had there (does anyone remember that?). Saw Shelly Berman there and also Little Jo (Michael Landon) from Bonanza. I remember the women going nuts and trying to grab his cowboy hat. Grew up in Coral Ridge, then moved to Sunrise behind what is now The Galleria off E. Sunrise Blvd. then moved to the beach just North of Birch State Park, so I remember a lot. Ft. Lauderdale was such a great place to grow up in back then.
Thu Aug 18, 11:11:00 AM
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