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Highland Park Village gets landmark status

By Dave Bodamer

The Dallas-area Highland Park Village became the first mall to be named a National Historic Landmark in March when it received official recognition from the U.S. Department of the Interior for its role as a pioneer of the modern shopping center.

The 250,000-square-foot center, built nearly 70 years ago, is widely recognized as the first development in which storefronts faced away from neighborhood streets and toward an integrated parking area.

The mall was elevated to landmark status because it represents "a pivotal point in the evolution of shopping centers as a distinctive building type in 20th century architecture in the United States,'' according to a statement issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior. "Shopping centers such as Highland Park played a major role in the decentralization of the downtown commercial core of cities across the United States,'' the statement said.

Built in 1931 as part of the Highland Park residential development, which is a suburb of Dallas, Highland Park Village has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places for three years (sharing that honor with a handful of other retail developments). But of the 67,000 sites listed, only about 3% have been designated national landmarks.

Over the past 24 years, Highland Park has been completely refurbished and now features a healthy roster of such upscale tenants as Banana Republic, Prada, Chanel and a four-screen AMC theater.

Highland Park Village was designed by the now-defunct Dallas firm of Fooshee and Cheek and commissioned by Hugh Prather and Edgar Flippin, who were the sons-in-law of Highland Park developer John Armstrong. Since 1976 it has been owned by the Miller family. They worked to restore it to its original state, which draws heavily from Spanish architecture.

"We've visited Europe to study Spanish villas and the Al Hambra region and tried to keep the integrity of the architecture,'' said Henry S. Miller III, CEO and president of Highland Park Village Partnership, in an interview with SCT.

The Millers bought Highland Park Village from Republic National Bank, Dallas, which took control of the center in the early 1960s. The bank "let it go downhill maintenance-wise,'' said Dallas architect Dave Selzer, who has consulted the Millers on Highland Park for more than 20 years.

For example, when lights needed to be replaced, bank management did not match new lights with the originals, in some cases opting for fluorescent lights rather than period ones. The bank also did not try to maintain a high-profile tenant roster. It was not stringent in urging tenants to keep their spaces close to their original state, and many erected signs that were garish when juxtaposed on the center's structure. The graphics on the buildings are now controlled.

The Miller family stepped in to buy the center after the Treasury Department instructed the bank to divest itself of all nonbanking ventures. They also saw it as an opportunity to return the center to its original state as they remembered it from growing up in the area.

The Millers said they were surprised to learn that the center had be en dubbed a national landmark; however they don't plan to play that aspect up too much in their marketing efforts.

"One benefit is that the center conceivably could be included in historic tours of Dallas, which has the potential to give it a level of exposure it has never had before," Miller said. "It will be helpful in making the center attractive to tourists. Still, our list of tenants is the best tool we have."