“We are working on a comprehensive land-use plan to redevelop our master plan that we did in 2009 to utilize property throughout the whole city, Wonderland included,” she said. There’s more to come, said Balcones Heights Mayor Suzanne de Leon. Much of the first floor is occupied by Veterans Administration and University Health clinics and other offices.įor over a year starting in early 2021, the mall served as a central COVID-19 vaccination site supported by University Health. Since 2009, Crossroads Mall Partners, led by Sid Weiss, has worked to turn the former mall into a retail, medical and entertainment destination. Sales taxes from its stores contribute significant revenue to the city’s $9 million annual budget.īut ownership gives Balcones Heights more control over Wonderland’s viability and some assurance regarding that revenue, said city leaders in 2021. The 650,000-square-foot mall, built in 1961, occupies a large swath of the 1-square-mile municipality. Wonderland is key to Balcones Heights’ future. “That’ll be our homage back to the Bijou and a way for us to still help independent and art films,” Brooks said. That plan will be launched this summer with independent films shown throughout the Santikos chain of theaters, which now includes two formerly operated by Alamo Drafthouse Cinema - at Westlakes on San Antonio’s far West Side and in New Braunfels.
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“That’s why we came up with the Bijou Art Series Plan.”
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“We just have not been getting the new art films in and so we were working on a plan on how to expand the art film across our fleet,” Brooks said. There had been rumors that the theater would close permanently, Nastasi said.īut Santikos’ leadership dealt the final blow only several weeks ago, ending its 35-year run at Wonderland, said Andrew Brooks, executive director of sales and marketing at Santikos.
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Like with most movie houses, attendance was low, largely because few new films were being released. The theater went dark in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic and reopened later that summer. The decision by Santikos not to renew its lease at Wonderland did not come as a surprise, he added. “We have some new prospects that I think take care of, and make it even more profitable,” Nastasi said. In addition, the Wonderland partnership is in talks with tenants for the space, but Nastasi declined to name them before a deal is signed. “I’m very optimistic for that reason.” The Wonderland of the Americas mall originally opened in 1961. “This property has weathered bigger impacts than the Bijou shutting down,” Nastasi said. And “sometimes, forced changes can be a good thing,” said Lorenzo Nastasi, director of development and public affairs for Balcones Heights. While other malls have been gutted, shuttered or reinvented, Wonderland keeps bouncing back, James Bond-style.
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