Kingsport Town Center, formerly Fort Henry Mall, located in Kingsport, Tennessee is the only regional shopping mall serving Kingsport. Opened March 10, 1976, this two level mall is located at the Intersection of Fort Henry Drive and Memorial Blvd. It is managed by General Growth Properties and is owned by Somera Capital Managemet. The mall comprises three anchor stores: Belk, JCPenney, and Sears.
Over 60 stores are located in the mall. Many of the national mall chains are here as well as some local stores. There is no food court in the mall, so the eating establishments are spread out throughout the mall.
Starting early 2009, the mall will receive a series of renovations on both the interior and exterior. The interior renovations will begin first, followed by the exterior. Also a name change took place in mid 2008. The renovations include: new stone-paved floors; gathering places with comfortable seating; a new children’s play area; a fresh, contemporary design with brick and glass façades; a new clock tower; a food court; and monumental new entry structures. Plus there will be 2 expansions, one to JCPenney (which was to be demolished, with a new prototype building built separate from the mall, but they decided that it would be too expensive). The anchor building would have been connected to the mall with a new a promenade-style area with a courtyard and shops lined down a sidewalk. So now the will just expand the current building and renovate. The Marquee Cinemas side will be expanded out to the end of Sears. That expansion will include two-story atrium with two escalators leading to the second floor. A food court would be on the right, and a dining terrace would be atop the expansion. The Marquee Cinemas will be expanded from an 11 screen to a 14 screen. There will also be 4-5 outparcels built in the parking lot, which will be mostly restaurants. Interrior work will begin Jan/Feb. ’09 , which will include the new children’s play area. Major Exterior work will follow. All work should be completed by 2011. The mall did get the city to give some incentives for new tennents that may move into the mall. Right before Easter signs went up all over the mall telling everyone that big changes are on the way and also telling the new name. The slogan used on the signs is “You have to believe it to see it". Starting in late June, the mall started using its new name in the local newspapers and Funfest brochures. But, the name change wasn’t supposed to happen until after the building work was almost finished. When the project is completed, the mall will go from its current size of 530,000 square feet (49,000 m2) to 634,000 square feet (which includes the outparcels). The total cost for all of the renovations and construction will be between $30 and $40 million.
