Tucson, AZ - The El Con Mall sign is a very well recognized sign in Tucson. The El Con Mall is Tucson's first mall debuting in1961.
El Con Mall
Tucson, AZ Photo courtesy Josey Elsner
The mall located to the El Conquistador Hotel which was originally supposed to be a part of this mid-century mall. The first configuration was as an outdoor shopping center with establishments such as Levy's department store, Montgomery Ward, and Woolworth. The El Conquistador Hotel was torn down in 1968 to help expand the mall. So the very hotel that earned the mall its name ended up being space within the mall.
El Con Mall
Tucson, AZ
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The El Con Mall sign is one of those Tucson roadside sights that is hard to mistake for anything else. Its tall framework and colorful letter panels look as though they belong to a time when shopping centers were new, parking lots seemed endless and a trip to the mall was something to put on the calendar. Even with all the changes around it, this old sign still has plenty to say.
El Con opened on November 16, 1960, as Tucson’s first major shopping mall. Originally an open-air center, it brought familiar names such as Levy’s, Montgomery Ward, Woolworth and Skaggs Drug Center together in one place. Shoppers could browse the department stores, stop for something at the drugstore and wander between storefronts beneath the Arizona sky. Eventually, the walkways were enclosed, giving customers a little relief from that enthusiastic Tucson sunshine.
Kinko's old sign
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The mall took its name from the nearby El Conquistador Hotel, a grand Spanish Revival resort designed by architect Annie Graham Rockfellow. Opened in 1928, the hotel stood here long before anyone was looking for a parking space outside Montgomery Ward. Early plans allowed the resort and shopping center to coexist, but the growing mall eventually won out. The hotel closed in 1964 and was demolished in 1968 to make room for expansion.
Check out the old blank sign that used to advertise Kinko's back in 1998.
Close up look at the El Con sign
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Quite a change in scenery. Where guests once came for a desert resort stay, shoppers arrived looking for school clothes, appliances and something from the lunch counter. El Con became part of everyday life for generations of Tucson residents, with the colorful sign standing out along Broadway Boulevard as a familiar marker.
The sign at night
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Like many older malls, El Con eventually had trouble keeping its enclosed corridors full. Stores changed names, longtime tenants disappeared and newer shopping destinations drew customers elsewhere. Big-box retailers began moving onto the property, while the old interior became less and less of the attraction. During redevelopment in the early 2010s, the enclosed mall corridors were demolished, returning much of the center to an outdoor layout. Open-air to enclosed and back again. Apparently, the Arizona sky was not finished with El Con.
Check out the multi-colored panels on this vintage shopping center sign
A close up of the sign glowing at night
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Fortunately, the vintage sign had a different fate. Removed during an earlier round of changes, it spent years in storage while the shopping center around it was rearranged. A roughly $50,000 restoration brought the 35-foot landmark back to life, and it was reinstalled and relit in December 2012. The colorful panels once again rose above the parking lot, saving a little of the original mall’s personality from the bulldozers.
UPDATE: The El Con Mall sign had been removed over a decade ago. According to the Tucson News Now, the 35-foot sign was reinstalled and re-lit in December 2012 after being declared a historic landmark. 03-13
UPDATE: The property now operates as El Con Center, an open-air retail complex rather than the enclosed mall generations of Tucson shoppers remember. Much of the old shopping environment is gone, but the restored mid-century sign survives. Look across the parking lot and there it is, still announcing El Con in its own colorful way. 09-26
Montgomery Ward
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Shopping Center entrance
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Dillards
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Another entranceway
Tucson, AZ Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
El Con Mall
El Con Mall
Kinko's old sign
Close up look at the El Con sign
The sign at night
A close up of the sign glowing at night
