MERCADO OF AMERICA

摘要

Built in 1962, seminary south was the first mall in Fort Worth and, by all accounts, the archetypal American shopping center. At its peak, it was home to a Sears, a JCPenney and a Dillard's. There was a bowling alley, a movie theater and a space for the Fort Worth Opera to practice. Families took their children on weekends, and neighbors mingled. But like many other malls across the country, the shopping center began a steep decline in the 1990s. Over the next decade, big department stores left or closed. Gang activity became a problem, and shoppers stopped coming. "It's where I used to buy my jeans as a kid," recalls Joel Burns, the city councilman for the district. "It was a nice little shopping area."