Brownsville ITEC Center

Brownsville ITEC Center
LocationBrownsville, Texas
Coordinates25°54′08″N 97°30′37″W / 25.9021°N 97.5104°W / 25.9021; -97.5104
Address301 Mexico Blvd, Brownsville, TX 78520, USA
Opened1974
Closed2001 (renovated as Brownsville ITEC Center, 2002)
DeveloperMelvin Simon & Associates
OwnerTexas Southmost College
Stores52
4
Floor area647,000 sq ft (60,100 m2)
Floors1-2

Brownsville ITEC Center is a tech center in Brownsville, Texas. The building was previously an enclosed shopping mall called Amigoland Mall.

The 647,000-square-foot (60,100 m2) mall, developed by Melvin Simon & Associates (now Simon Property Group), opened in downtown Brownsville in 1974, with Montgomery Ward, JCPenney (which also featured a JCPenney Supermarket), and Dillard's as anchors. Other early tenants included McCrory Stores, Walgreens, and a two-screen movie theater. It later gained Bealls as an additional anchor.

In 1999, both JCPenney and Dillard's relocated to nearby Sunrise Mall.[1] The loss of these stores caused declining traffic at Amigoland.[2] The bankruptcy of Montgomery Ward in 2000 left the older mall devoid of anchors and shortly afterward, the mall was shuttered.

In 2002, the vacant mall was converted to classrooms and a tech center for Texas Southmost College.[3]

In 2020, the facility underwent a major renovation handled by DMMC Engineering- David Martinez-McCarter, P.E, to renovate and retrofit four spaces into Pipe Fitting Lab, Welding training facilities, Industrial Maintenance classrooms, and Police Academy training classrooms for Texas Southmost College and was completed and inaugurated on late 2021

References

  1. ↑ "JC Penney store moves into new location at Sunrise Mall Retail: Old location closes its doors. - Brownsville Herald: Local News". Archived from the original on August 10, 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
  2. ↑ http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/comments.php?id=P12477_0_1_0_C
  3. ↑ "Brownsville Economic Development Council". Archived from the original on February 14, 2006. Retrieved February 22, 2007.