What did Aventura Mall look like when it opened four decades ago? See for yourself
Aventura Mall opened in April 1983 in a considerably different South Florida landscape.
Four anchor stores, led by Lord & Taylor. No 24-screen movie theater. At 1.2 million square feet, a fraction of the near 3 million-square-foot attraction Aventura has become over four decades.
Here’s a visual tour of Aventura Mall in its earlier years through photographs from the Miami Herald archives.
A file photo from Feb. 11, 1998, at the Aventura Mall, located by U.S. 1 south of the Broward-Dade line. Lord & Taylor was the first of four original anchors. The store closed in 2005. Jordan Yelman/Miami Herald file In this file photo from 1989, Don Morris, left, and Jesus Portuondo, both Volunteers from Telephone Pioneers of America, add more fruit to the one-ton fruit salad that was in the making at Aventura Mall. John R. Van Beekum/Miami Herald A demonstration Aeurobics event at Aventura Mall in 1991. Jon Kral/Miami Herald file Thursday 09/13/01 – Richard Patterson/for the Herald – From Left: Dean Shechtman, of Aventura, watches his daughter, Taylor Shechtman, 20 months, dance to some oldies that were being played by Mel Olman, of Hollywood and a piano player in the Aventura mall for 6 years inside of the mall. 3 of 3 Richard Patterson/Miami Herald file
