The opening of the Buckman Bridge in 1970 changed life south of Jacksonville in a major way. Before the bridge, Orange Park and the nearby parts of Clay County were still mostly rural.
The St. Johns River created a real barrier, and getting into Jacksonville took time. That kept the area quieter and more removed from the city.
As soon as the bridge was built, everything changed quickly. Commuters could get across the river much more easily.
Many families moved south in search of cheaper land and newer houses. As a result, the roads became busier. Fields and open land began to disappear as new subdivisions went in.
By the mid-1970s, Clay County's population had risen from 32,000 in 1970 to 51,800 in 1976. They were looking for a place to shop, a spot to eat, and somewhere to spend time with others.
Small downtown business areas and strip malls were not enough to meet all of those needs in one air-conditioned place out of the Florida heat.
Five years after the bridge opened, a 750,000-square-foot enclosed shopping mall opened on newly paved Wells Road and gave the area that kind of center.
The bridge and the mall did more than serve a growing area. Together, they helped shape its growth.
Orange Park Mall Opens on a Bumper-to-Bumper Day
Orange Park Mall opened on September 24, 1975. Traffic backed up bumper to bumper along Wells Road that day, and the Orange Park High School marching band performed at the entrance.
The original anchors were three department stores: Ivey's, May-Cohens, and Sears.
A full mix of smaller tenants filled out the rest of the building from the start - Spencer's Gifts, Zales, Radio Shack, Frederick's of Hollywood, Stride-Rite, B. Dalton Bookseller, and Body Shop were all there in the early days.
The mall quickly became more than a place to shop. Clay County residents used it for food, entertainment, and socializing, and it settled into the rhythm of daily life in a way that smaller retail strips could not match.
By gathering so many things in one building, it gave the fast-growing suburbs around it a shared center the area had never really had before.
Two of those original opening-day tenants never left. Zales and Spencer's were still operating in the same location in early 2026 - more than fifty years after the doors first opened.
The marching band that played on opening day was invited back to perform again for the mall's fiftieth anniversary celebration in 2025.
More Space, More Stores, and Anchor Changes
By 1984, the mall was ready to grow. A major expansion brought the total size from 750,000 square feet to about 910,000 square feet, added a food court, and brought in a fourth department store anchor: JCPenney.
The larger footprint extended the mall's reach across a wider part of northeast Florida.
Anchor stores then went through a long series of identity changes as Southern department store chains were bought and sold.
Ivey's, one of the original three anchors, was acquired by Dillard's in June 1990, and the Orange Park location became a Dillard's.
The May-Cohens anchor took a longer and more winding path. May Department Stores renamed the chain "May Florida," then sold it to Maison Blanche in 1988.
Maison Blanche was acquired by Mercantile Stores in February 1992, and local stores were renamed Gayfers.
When Dillard's purchased Mercantile in 1998, stores in markets where Dillard's was already operating were transferred to Belk instead.
That chain of sales is how the original May-Cohens space eventually became a Belk - the name it carries today.
By the early 2010s, the anchor lineup had settled at Dillard's, JCPenney, Sears, Belk, Dick's Sporting Goods, and AMC Theatres.
Movies, a Makeover, and a Sporting Goods Store
Orange Park Mall got its first movie theater less than a year after it opened.
The Orange Park Five Theaters started on June 25, 1976, and was the first theater in the Jacksonville area to offer more than two screens under one roof.
It sat near the mall entrance, close to Morrison's and Orphan Annie's Restaurants.
On August 29, 1997, the theater expanded and reopened as the AMC Orange Park 24, a 24-auditorium multiplex that became one of the larger movie venues in the region.
It continues to operate at the mall today.
By the late 2000s, newer outdoor shopping centers like Oakleaf Town Center were attracting shoppers to different parts of the Jacksonville area.
To stay competitive, the mall went through a major renovation starting around 2005, updating the appearance and layout of the building.
The project also brought in Dick's Sporting Goods as a new anchor. The store took around 48,000 square feet and gave the mall a sixth anchor alongside its existing department stores and theater.
Owners Come and Go, and Then Sears Leaves Too
Simon Property Group acquired Orange Park Mall in December 1994 and held the property for two decades.
In 2014, Simon formed Washington Prime Group and transferred several malls, including Orange Park Mall, into the new company.
Washington Prime took over a well-occupied property - at the end of 2020, the mall stood at 952,725 square feet and was 97 percent leased, with about 3,000 employees on site.
Washington Prime filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2021. Orange Park Mall was among the properties in the case, though daily operations continued without interruption.
Sears did not survive the era. The original 1975 anchor announced its Orange Park closure in early 2020 as part of a nationwide shutdown round.
The store closed in April 2020 - ending 45 years at the mall and removing the last Sears in the Jacksonville area.
The vacant building and its large parking area, covering about 18 acres in total, became a major redevelopment question.
By 2025, the site was being marketed under the name Orange Park Plaza and moving toward demolition, with plans for a multi-tenant retail project and five outparcels.
An environmental permit application went before state regulators in early 2025.
A New Owner Takes Over and Makes New Rules
Second Horizon Capital bought the mall in August 2025 for $60.5 million, according to Clay County deed records.
CBRE took over property management and leasing, and Second Horizon said from the start it was putting money into the common areas, safety, and community programs.
The focus on safety was real. The mall had faced problems for a few years. In February 2023, a fight among teenagers forced the mall to close for a while.
Deputies returned in March 2024 after another disturbance involving teenagers, and gunshots were fired somewhere nearby that night.
One man got hurt and went to the hospital, though not seriously.
Then on July 5, 2025, hundreds of kids showed up for some kind of unofficial party. Nobody had cleared it with anyone. The Sheriff's Office came out and sent everybody home.
That was the event that finally made things change. In October, the mall began turning away anyone under 18 who came on Fridays or Saturdays without a parent or guardian who was at least 21.
Otherwise, the mall remains active. Florida Blue helped revive a free weekly walking program in January, with people coming in to walk laps inside the building.
Dillard's, JCPenney, Belk, Books-A-Million, and Dick's Sporting Goods are all still there as anchors. Over 100 stores total, more than 20 places to eat, and the AMC with all 24 screens still running.
