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Talk of Arizona
Fa;ll 2015
from which Fiesta Mall drew. Online shopping took a bite, too. A remodel of Fiesta mall in 2007 failed to stem the decline.
The surrounding retail centers, restaurants and movie theaters withered as well.
To draw residents back to the district, Mesa’s Vice Mayor Dennis Kavanaugh has led a 12-year effort to restructure the area as a pedestrian-friendly boulevard.
“We needed to shrink parts of it so that the sidewalks were wider for pedestrians and bicyclists and add lots and lots of shade in places for people to rest — make it safe and inviting,” Kavanaugh said.
Kavanaugh said the change is part of a national movement to initiate an adaptive reuse of retail centers that have already been built.
“You’ve seen it all across the country as cities try to repurpose large, big-box suburban malls and retail strip shops,” he said. “There’s no one template, but there are plenty of options.”