Former theater-church space at White Oaks Mall to go retail

Former theater-turned-church space at White Oaks Mall will convert to use for retail outlets once a major remodeling project is finished this summer.

Conversion of the former White Oaks Cinema space at the south end of the mall will take a couple of months longer than the rest of the mall renovation because of the unusual configuration, general manager Maureen Bluhm said Tuesday.

Work on the mall commons area, food court and exterior are scheduled for completion in May. The former theater space should be finished in July.

The (theater) chairs had been removed, and thats about it, Bluhm said during an update tour of the mall on Tuesday. The walls were still here, all the screens. Some projectors were here and some sound systems were here.

Bluhm said the sloping floors of the former theater must be raised in some spots and lowered in others to match the level of the rest of the mall. The work, which will include new west-side entrances, also required installation of new support columns,

Taking this floor out is a big project, said Bluhm. She said the conversion would add about 42,000 square feet of retail space to the mall.

White Oaks Cinema closed in 2008. The iWorship Center of Springfield used the space from early 2010 to the fall of 2011.

Bluhm said mall officials are in discussions with potential retail tenants, but that the construction must first be completed.

The first major renovation of the mall in 18 years started last summer, and marketing director Christine Lahmann said the exterior work, mall commons and food court work is on schedule for completion in May.

She said the current lineup of food-court tenants would remain the same, but that the area would have a new layout.

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Former theater-church space at White Oaks Mall to go retail