Heritage Park Mall stopped operating as a mall in 2010. It took Midwest City nearly sixteen years, several redevelopment attempts, and a court order to gain control of what came next.
It opened in 1978 and once generated more than $1 million a year in property taxes; by the 2017 redevelopment study, the mall generated only about $70,000 a year in fiscal impact.
The enclosed space filled with the wrong things: tire storage, oils, old engine parts, bathroom fixtures, appliances, and diagnostic machines. People kept breaking in for the copper. The glass kept breaking…