Lexington's Turfland Mall is no longer a shopping center in the typical sense, but it appears to be moving toward once again playing an active role in the community. When it opened in 1967, Turfland was Lexington's first enclosed shopping mall. Last week, the University of Kentucky announced a number of its health clinics will move into the former Dillard’s off Harrodsburg road. Developer Ron Switzer says the rest of the Turfland Mall structure is coming down. “But, the rest of the mall just can’t be competitive as a mall anymore. It’s in a dilapidated state. You know it’s been vacated five or six years. So from the Dillard’s building down to the Home Depot, we’re going to level that, and at this point we don’t know exactly who will be prospective tenants,” said Switzer.
Switzer says demolition is underway for much of the mall. He hopes to see commercial business return to the site. “We don’t have a master plan at this point, be cautiously optimistic about who will go in there. It might be more like a piece meal. You know, we might put a strip in one area and then come back and put a strip. But, we want high class tenants and tenants that Lexington needs,” said Switzer.
Switzer says it’s possible some Lexington area businesses will want to re-locate to this site. The developer says there’s always some interest from outside Kentucky to set up shop in Lexington.
