Central Park (shopping complex)

Central Park
Location Fredericksburg, Virginia, USA
Owner Silver Companies
No. of stores and services 255+
No. of anchor tenants 7+
Website www.shopatcentralpark.com

Central Park is a shopping complex in Fredericksburg, Virginia, with over 255 businesses. The complex is located near the intersection of Interstate 95 and State Route 3. Many national big-box stores, restaurants, and smaller local businesses occupy the Central Park complex. The complex has 2,200,000 square feet (200,000 m2) of leased retail space. The complex's developer, the Silver Companies, describes Central Park as "The East Coast's Largest Power Retail Center".[1] In the 2004 rankings from the American Studies Department at Eastern Connecticut State University, Central Park was ranked as the largest unenclosed mall (and the second largest mall) on the East Coast, and as the seventh largest mall in the United States.[2]

Central Park also includes a Holiday Inn Select Hotel, and a Hilton Garden Inn, with three more hotels scheduled to open in the next few years. In late January 2006, the Fredericksburg Expo & Conference Center opened, giving the Fredericksburg region its first convention center. Central Park is also home to Central Park Funland, a small family fun park consisting of indoor/outdoor entertainment. Outdoor attractions consist of go karts, batting cages, and mini golf, while the indoor area offers an array of activities, to include Laser Tag, mini bowling games, a rollercoaster simulator and hundreds of arcade games and small children's rides. Fun Land also hosts children's birthday parties, and group rates for corporate, church or sporting event gatherings, with private event rooms to accommodate.

History

Central Park was developed by the Silver Companies. (Carl D. Silver Parkway, the primary road through Central Park, is named after the founder and owner of the Silver Companies.) Before the complex was developed, the site was occupied by a Sheraton Hotel and a golf course. The complex was begun in 1995, and is still expanding and growing. Central Park is now a 310-acre (1.3 km2) power center.[1] It serves as the retail shopping and primary dining component of the 2,400-acre (10 km2) mega-development Celebrate Virginia, which uses the slogan "North America's Largest Retail Resort" and spans Stafford County, the Rappahannock River, and the City of Fredericksburg. Across Route 3 from Central Park is the older Spotsylvania Mall, which has undergone extensive renovation to become the Spotsylvania Towne Centre.

Many area residents complain that the developers did not make adequate allowances for the increase in traffic caused by the complex.[3] Residents and travelers in the area are often frustrated by the congestion along the Route 3 corridor near the Interstate 95 interchange.[4]

Major stores/businesses

An aerial view of the Central Park complex.

The center's major big box tenants include Ashley Furniture, Best Buy, DSW Shoe Warehouse, Ethan Allen, HHGregg, Kohl's, Lowe's, Office Depot, Old Navy, PetSmart, The Sports Authority, Regal Theaters 15, Target, Toys "R" Us, Walmart, Wegmans, and Hobby Lobby.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Silver Companies - Central Park at Celebrate Virginia". www.silvercompanies.com. Silver Companies. Retrieved 2006-08-23.
  2. ↑ Largest Shopping Malls in the United States (2004), accessed August 24, 2006 Archived August 21, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ Ugincius, Leila Marija (October 1997). "FREDERICKSBURG". Virginia Business Magazine. Archived from the original on 2006-03-13. Retrieved 2006-08-09.
  4. ↑ Amrhine, Richard (2003-05-18). "Traffic woes will take toll". The Free Lance—Star. Retrieved 2006-08-09.
  5. ↑ Freehling, Bill (2009-02-08). "Central Park is feeling empty". The Free Lance—Star. Retrieved 2009-09-19.

Coordinates: 38°18′18.7″N 77°30′33.7″W / 38.305194°N 77.509361°W / 38.305194; -77.509361

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