Heritage Park Mall

The Heritage Park Mall opened on October 8, 1978, with a bang, sponsoring a 100-mile charity relay run around the mall to raise money for the Special Olympics. Exercising around malls whether by walking or jogging was very common back then, many could get in a few miles with how big the facilities were. It was hosted by Billy Carter, brother of then-president Jimmy Carter. Henry Winkler, known for playing “The Fonz” on the sitcom Happy Days, was also there, alongside Ed McMahon, the famous game show host and announcer. Businesses throughout the mall, like Sears, Dillard’s, Wilsons, and Montgomery Ward, offered sales and giveaways to drum up interest, with Dillard’s even giving away a free diamond ring. 

In 1980, Quail Springs Mall opened, and later that same year, Penn Square Mall debuted new renovations and improvements, giving Heritage Park Mall some competition. In 1989, Shawnee Mall opened nearby, further dividing the pool of potential shoppers. By 1999, the economic strain began to show, with Montgomery Ward and Service Warehouse shutting down due to bankruptcy.

In 2005, the Midwest City Town Center opened less than 3 miles away, close to I-40 and Tinker Air Force Base. The rising popularity of outdoor shopping areas like the Town Center led to more difficulty attracting customers to Heritage Park Mall. Things continued to go downhill, with Dillard’s closing in 2007, selling the space to Life Church that year for $1.5 million. Other smaller stores continued closing due to increasing rent costs and not being able to bring in enough customers. Sears remained open, partitioned off from the rest of the mall with cloth barriers, but in 2017 it too closed.

Redevelopment Efforts

Heritage Park Mall officially closed in 2010 around the time that online shopping started to increase. The decline in malls has affected towns and their economies across the nation some of these include White Lakes Mall and Blue Ridge Mall. As of 2024, there are only around 1,150 malls left compared to the 2,500 that existed in 1980. Some statistics think as many as 87% of the remaining malls could close over the next 10 years.

Ahmad Bahreini, a local real estate investor, bought the property for $1.3 million in 2011, well below the assessed price of around $7 million. Bahreini had plans to redevelop the building for something other than retail, like offices or housing.

But the city made this less than easy going back and forth with Ahmad Bahreini about the building’s condition continuing for over a decade. In 2023, the Midwest City Council unanimously approved an urban renewal plan that would have the city acquire the property and redevelop it into something that would better serve the community. Bahreini protested this decision, pointing to difficulties working with the city on things like water access and a certificate of occupancy. The city released a detailed plan showing several possible uses of the property, from developing parks and mixed residential green spaces to opening a YMCA on a section of the property.

But those plans changed somewhat with the building being condemned in late 2024. As of early 2025, the city now plans to acquire the Heritage Park Mall along with a nearby vacant Whataburger property also owned by Bahreini and raze both of them.

Today, the only part of the over 600,000 square foot mall that’s open is a section on the west side of the property, where Life Church has taken refuge and a storage warehouse in what was once a Dillard’s. I guess the building’s fate now is in the hands of the city.

Gallery Below of Heritage Park Mall

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