Westroads Mall is an enclosed shopping mall with over 135 stores located in Omaha, Nebraska at the intersection of 100th and Dodge Streets. It is the largest mall in the state of Nebraska, with 14.5 million customer visits annually.
Designed by real estate developer John Wiebe, Westroads cost $25 million to build, including $15 million for store inventories & fixtures. It opened to the public on August 1, 1968. It originally opened with 68 tenants, later expanding to approximately 120 at the end of its first full year. During the mall’s early years, it was home to a chapel as well as a heliport on the roof. In the 1970’s, a dinner theatre occupied much of the mall’s lower level. Prudential Insurance Co. purchased the mall from Wiebe for $45 Million in 1977. In 1997, General Growth Properties bought the mall from Prudential and remains the owner.
The mall has been renovated several times: in 1990, 1995, 1999 and 2003. Westroads is Nebraska’s largest shopping mall with a gross leasable area of 1.2 million square feet.
Anchors
Mall anchors include:
Dick’s Sporting Goods
JCPenney
Von Maur
Younkers (in former Jones Store)
Rave Motion Pictures
Movie theaters
The first theater in the mall was the Fox Theater. Originally a single screen theater, it was converted to dual screen in 1976. It is now closed. The mall was also home to a small multiplex called the AMC Westroads 8 until December 1997 when AMC opened the Oak View Plaza 24 Theaters near Oak View Mall. However, in mid 2008 a new 14 screen multiplex operated by Rave Motion Pictures opened in the site of the former Younkers.
Shooting
Main article: Westroads Mall shooting
On December 5, 2007, a man later identified as Robert A. Hawkins entered the Von Maur anchor store with a rifle and began firing. One report indicated that at least 25 rounds had been fired. Nine people were killed (including the gunman), and five people injured, all within Von Maur. Westroads Security responded quickly and safely. [8][9] The mall reopened on December 8, 2007, while anchor store Von Maur reopened December 20, 2007.
