Revamped Mall to Boast Entertainment Center

Hoping to invigorate the fading Buena Park Mall, developers are adding a $30-million entertainment center to a larger renovation project now underway.

The new 167,600-square-foot entertainment center will include a 20-screen Edwards theater complex and a virtual reality game room, said Lori Jones, the mall’s director of leasing. The plan is to reposition the 36-year-old center as a “major regional retail and entertainment attraction” that will also draw customers from nearby Knott’s Berry Farm.

In addition to the entertainment complex, developers are sinking $40 million into remodeling the mall, including dramatically redesigning the shopping center’s exterior to resemble an “urban street-scape.” The mall will be anchored by Sears, JC Penney and Fedco and will include a variety of specialty shops and restaurants.

“Our goal is to create a one-destination shopping experience and a new town center for the community,” Jones said. “We want to create an inviting urban marketplace environment that will combine our department store anchors . . . with new power retailers, specialty shops, restaurants and entertainment venues.”

The mall should be complete by the first quarter of 2000, Jones said.