Broadway Plaza Turns the Big 6-0

Broadway Plaza is here today because the J.C. Penney chain wanted to open a store in Walnut Creek.  But Edith Apgar, a representative of local developer Graeme McDonald, said the J.C. Penney project expanded into the idea of creating an entire shopping center. 

There were 30 acres--comprising three parcels--available just southeast of Main Street and Mt. Diablo Boulevard. Construction began on the 38-store center, anchored by JC Penney and Sears department stores and Joseph Magnin, a San Francisco-based clothing store. The center would also include a Lucky Supermarket (where Nordstrom now is) and a Woolworth variety store.  Building the center would mean covering over Walnut and San Ramon creeks. 

Apgar was superintendent of the project, one of the few women overseeing a major construction project in the country. 

Broadway Walnut Creek, the project's working title, would be open air, one of the first of this kind of shopping center in the United States. With its 1,500 parking spaces, Broadway Shopping Center would be recognized "as one of the earliest examples of a postwar automobile-oriented retail mall," wrote Brad Rovanpera, the retired public information officer for the city, in his book Walnut Creek: An Illustrated History . 

One year later, on October 11, 1951, Broadway Plaza opened, and one of the Marx Brothers (can you guess which one?) provided some entertainment. 

"In one broad stroke, the opening of the center changed the financial fortunes of a sleepy downtown that would one day be recognized as one of the top shopping districts in the nation," Rovanpera said. "Its instant popularity and influence on downtown planning in neighboring cities helped solidify Walnut Creek's reputation as the crossroads and the commercial vanguard of the East Bay."

Celebrations of Broadway Plaza's 60th anniversary start this month.

• The  Little Black Dress Party takes place Friday June 24, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Promenade Fountain, across Broadway from Nordstrom. People can enjoy cake, giveways and raffle prizes and live entertainment by R&B group East Bay Mudd. 
• Family Day at the Plaza follows on Saturday, June 25 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. This also takes place at the Promenade Fountain and Broadway Lane. Families and kids can check out arts and crafts projects, face painting and balloon artists. 
• In the fall, the community is invited to celebrate at a special event. Details are pending, but it will include a visit to the newly remodeled Nordstrom. 

Other Broadway fun facts, by the numbers: 

2,400
Number of people living in Walnut Creek just before Broadway Plaza was built. In 20 years, the number would jump to 40,000.

3.5
Number in millions of dollars that McDonald invested in building Braodway Plaza.  

1954
Year when Capwell's department store opened in Broadway Plaza

202,186
Amount in dollars the sales tax revenue that Walnut Creek earned in fiscal year 1951-52, nearly all of it from Broadway Plaza stores. 

1975
Year that Bullock's opened in Broadway Plaza, taking over the space fomerly occupied by Lucky grocery store. The following year,  President Gerald Ford, campaigning for re-election,  spoke to crowds gathered in Broadway Plaza and outside Bullock's, which is now Nordstrom. He dedicated the bell in Liberty Plaza, across Mt. Diablo Boulevard from Nordstrom.