Dimond Center facts for kids
| Location | Anchorage, Alaska, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 61°08′35″N 149°52′05″W / 61.143116°N 149.86815°W |
| Address | 800 E Dimond Blvd |
| No. of stores and services | 200+ |
| No. of anchor tenants | 3 |
| Total retail floor area | 728,000 square feet (67,600 m2) |
| No. of floors | 2 main |
| Parking | Free, uncovered |
The Dimond Center is a large shopping mall in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. It is located in the southern part of Anchorage. This mall is the biggest enclosed shopping center in the state of Alaska. It's a popular place for people to shop, eat, and have fun.
The Dimond Center is very big, covering about 728,000 square feet. It has more than 200 different stores, restaurants, and services. Some of its main attractions are Best Buy, Dave & Buster's, and a 9-screen Regal Cinemas movie theater.
Inside the mall, there's also a six-story office tower. On the lower level of this tower, you can find a small food court, a bowling alley, and a health club. These are all built around an ice skating rink. The office tower is also home to several radio stations, like KASH, KBFX, KENI, KGOT, KTZN, and KYMG.
History of Dimond Center
The area where the Dimond Center now stands used to be a road leading south from Anchorage. This road became the Seward Highway in the 1950s. Later, it was called the Old Seward Highway. This road helped south Anchorage grow. Many homes and businesses were built along it.
In the 1970s, two people named Larry Carr and Barney Gottstein bought land in Anchorage. They wanted to build more Carrs grocery stores. They helped turn the land at Dimond and Old Seward into a retail area. This happened during a time when Alaska was growing fast because of the trans-Alaska pipeline.
Opening and Growth
The Dimond Center first opened its doors in 1977. Its first main stores were Safeway and Pay 'n Save. The mall grew bigger in 1981, adding more stores.
Around 1982, another mall was planned nearby. However, an economic downturn in Anchorage meant that only a small part of that mall was ever built. During the 1990s, the area around Dimond Center continued to develop. Many large big-box stores were built. These stores, along with the Dimond Center, made the area a major shopping spot for people from far away.
Later Additions
In 1996, a movie theater was added to the Dimond Center. Later, the Dimond Center Hotel was built next to the mall. A branch of the Anchorage Public Library, called the Samson-Dimond Library, was one of the mall's original tenants. However, it closed at the end of 2010 due to budget cuts.
