Arizona Living

In her State of the City address on April 12, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego announced that Park Central and midtown Phoenix have been designated as the newest Bioscience Hub in the community, known as the Phoenix Medical Quarter, Global Advancement of Health and Education.

Arizona State University researchers and librarians are working to preserve and protect artifacts unearthed where Park Central Mall in midtown Phoenix once stood.

Artlink Inc. has entered into an agreement with the Park Central development team to develop this Arts and Culture Plan to help Park Central reach its potential. Artlink is a 501(c)3 nonprofit whose mission is to keep the arts integral to the development of our city. It will apply its three decades of experience in connecting artists, business and community to create a collaborative plan that will successfully merge arts, culture, and development to create a catalytic place in the heart of our city.

You know when you go to visit a relative, and they start pulling out the old photo albums? Well, if Park Central Mall were a person, it would be going through that same thing right now. When the current owners of the property peered into the mall’s basement, they found a bunch of photo albums and other items, all about this mall.

The revitalized Park Central has returned existing buildings to their mid-century-modern roots and incorporated exceptional new design features to create a space that is innovative, high-tech and creative.

Park Central Mall opened in 1957, and quickly became the center of activity along Central Avenue, thanks to its proximity to some of Phoenix’s best neighborhoods and easy access from Central Avenue, Thomas Road and Indian School Road. As Phoenix quickly grew, the area around Park Central Mall saw an increasing number of mid-rise and high-rise office buildings built along Central Avenue, and the area eventually became known as the Central Business District. ASU students and faculty gathered oral histories with people who lived in the neighborhoods surrounding Park Central Mall, store owners and individuals who frequented the mall to shop or attend the events at the mall.

Scroll through AZCentral's latest gallery of historic images pulled from various Phoenix collections.

Can you pick out all the photos of where the Creighton Phoenix campus sits now?