On our way back to the airport after one of my many trips to the Alamo City, we decided to stop somewhere a little different for a bite to eat. We turned off of the superhighway and into the parking lot of yet another mall. There was this huge, plain block of a Montgomery Ward staring at me that was attached to a smallish, nondescript shopping mall. We took a quick look inside the mall's dark and empty corridors, and I was actually rather impressed by one unique feature of the mall- the two level amphitheater and gardens integrated onto the northwest side of the mall.
There wasn't much else to see inside the old place, and even fewer places to eat, so we drove to an outlot and there I first ate at what has since become one of my favorite eat/play places- Dave and Buster's. (How the hell can Seattle not have one??)
The Crossroads of San Antonio Mallmanac ca. 2000. View the full PDF version here.
I really never was able to find much about the history of the mall. It is now called the Wonderland of the Americas, a hyperbolic monicker if I ever heard one. It's described as a fiesta of fun for the family or something like that, but I'd be willing to bet it's more like a siesta of disappointment. At least Dave and Buster's is still around.
I just found your website and maybe you will be interested in my posts from this mall. I added your blog to my link list, check out my blog Louisiana and Texas Southern Malls and if you can add my link. Here are my posts from the Wonderland of the Americas Mall. http://southernretail.blogspot.com/search/label/Wonderland%20Mall
ReplyDeleteHalf of the Ward's building was torn down for a SuperTarget in 2003. I'd recommend checking the Wikipedia article as the mall has some pretty interesting history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderland_of_the_Americas
ReplyDelete