Bay Park Square facts for kids
Entrance sign
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| Location | Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, United States (Green Bay) |
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| Coordinates | 44°29′05″N 88°04′04″W / 44.484594°N 88.067749°W |
| Opening date | October 1980 |
| Developer | Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. |
| Management | Simon Property Group |
| Owner | Simon Property Group |
| No. of stores and services | 92 (As of June 23, 2019[update]) |
| No. of anchor tenants | 4 (1 open, 3 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 711,918 sq ft (66,139.3 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 (2 in former Younkers) |
Bay Park Square is a big shopping mall in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin. This town is a suburb of Green Bay, Wisconsin. The mall is owned by a company called Simon Property Group. It first opened in October 1980. The DeBartolo Corporation built it.
Bay Park Square is easy to find. It's about one mile (1.6 km) from Lambeau Field. You can find it on South Oneida Street.
The main store at the mall is Kohl's. There are also three large empty spaces. These used to be stores like Shopko and two Younkers stores.
The mall has a special food court. It's called the "Supper Bowl." It looks like an American football stadium.
Contents
Mall History: How It Grew
Early Plans for a Shopping Center
In 1969, a store called Montgomery Ward had an idea. They wanted to build a new store. It would cost $10 million. They also planned a large shopping mall next to it. This new mall would be in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin. It would replace their old store in downtown Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The mall was supposed to open in 1971. Montgomery Ward hired a company from Chicago to help build it. But there were some delays. The Montgomery Ward store finally opened in 1972.
Building the Mall: 1970s and 1980s
The mall project stopped for a while in the mid-1970s. Then, the Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. took over. They became the new builders. By this time, the mall was planned to be even bigger.
In 1979, another big store joined the project. This was Shopko. Construction on the mall began that same year. Finally, Bay Park Square opened its doors in 1980.
Growing Bigger: Expansions and Changes
The mall grew even more in 1981. They added a new section on the east side. A Kohl's department store also opened there. This expansion added a lot more space to the mall.
In 1995, the mall got a big makeover. They updated many parts of the inside. A new section was added on the west side. This new area included a food court. It took the place of an old movie theater. A new department store, Elder-Beerman, also opened. This store became the fourth main store.
The mall also got two new main entrances. One led to the new food court. The other led to a walkway next to the Elder-Beerman store. A new movie theater, Marcus Theatres, was built outside the mall. The Kohl's store also got bigger at this time.
New Owners and Store Changes
Later, Simon Property Group became the owner of Bay Park Square. This happened when they joined with the DeBartolo Corporation.
The Montgomery Ward store closed in 2001. In 2003, the south part of the mall got bigger. A new Younkers department store was built there.
Elder-Beerman closed in 2007. This was after Younkers' parent company bought them. Later, a Younkers Furniture Gallery opened in the old Elder-Beerman spot. Both Younkers stores closed in 2018. This was because their company went out of business.
Shopko also closed its doors on June 16, 2019. This included the store at Bay Park Square.
Future Plans for the Mall
In 2019, new plans were announced for the mall. A fun place called Dave & Buster's was planned. It would open in the old Younkers Furniture space. Other restaurants also planned to open outside the mall. These included Panda Express, Blaze Pizza, and Mission BBQ.
