Forty years after opening its doors on February 19, 1986, the Riverchase Galleria is celebrating a major milestone and making plans to revitalize Alabama’s largest mall.
The Riverchase Galleria is Alabama’s largest mall
When developer Jim Wilson, Jr. of Jim Wilson & Associates began construction of the Riverchase Galleria in the early 1980s, people thought he was crazy for building a massive, mixed-use indoor mall (seemingly) in the middle of nowhere. At the time, Hoover had fewer than 10,000 residents and I-459 was still a few years away from completion.
Yet, when the Riverchase Galleria first opened its doors on February 19, 1986, it quickly became a destination for visitors across the southeast.
“I was a young police officer working here on that crazy day. Crowds came from everywhere—it was the destination to come to. I remember seeing jaws drop when people looked up at the massive ceiling; they had never seen anything like this.”…