4th of July celebration, final stage of efforts to revitalize PlazAmericas mall in Sharpstown
American flags lined the aisle of the PlazAmericas mall where dozens of vendors selling an array of Latino and Asian candy and trinkets shared space in the parking lot on Sunday with various community organizations for Liberty Fest, Southwest Management’s July 4 celebration. District.
It was an apt synthesis of the diversity that characterizes Sharpstown and an indication of the direction the organizers want the neighborhood to take. PlazAmericas Mall, originally called Sharpstown Center, was once a community center and economic engine for the area. Business leaders hope he can become one again.
“It was the second busiest mall in Houston, next to the Galleria, in the 80s and 90s, and I think it’s time for us to redevelop this area because of its location (at the intersection of Bellaire and US 59). It’s a gateway to the Asian trade corridor, and it’s between the Galleria and Sugar Land,” said Kenneth Li, president of the Southwest Management District. “We can bring more people to the area, not just from southwest Houston, but from across the city.”
Longtime residents of Sharpstown remember the mall, in its heyday, as the site of a prominent Fourth of July fireworks show they could walk to from their homes. But as businesses moved to other parts of town and the demographics of the neighborhood changed, the mall lost some of its footing and the annual fireworks display collapsed.
The mall began its rebranding efforts in 2009, when new owners renamed it PlazAmericas Mall to cater to new Latino residents in the area. In 2018, the mall was purchased by Houston-based Baker Katz. Soon after, Southwest Civic Association President Charmaine LeBlanc thought it was time to bring a fireworks show back to the neighborhood.
She hosted fireworks at the mall in 2019 and 2021 with a budget of around $30,000. The Southwest Management District took note and offered to add its most important resources to the cause. This year’s Liberty Fest had a budget of around $130,000, according to LeBlanc.
“They want to revitalize the commercial parts of the neighborhood, and as a landlord, I want businesses to run well because I want the neighborhood to be clean and safe and I want to be able to go out and shop,” LeBlanc said.
The diversity of the neighborhood was there on Sunday. Tents for groups like Latinos for Education sat across from street vendors selling Taiwanese street food, and in the center of the parking lot, a clown dressed in blue and white sequins did a number in Spanish for a group of young children latinos, who screamed with laughter trying to make an egg disappear under a piece of cloth.
Behind him, the Eastern Pearls Community Association presented a Hanfu fashion show, in which women modeled traditional Chinese clothing on the festival’s main stage. Under another tent in the parking lot, two fathers waited with their young children to watch their daughters perform with Kalaangan, a classical Indian dance group.
“Houston is a melting pot of all cultures, and it’s good to see Asians and Latinos together,” said one of the men, Sandeep Rout.
There were, of course, pyrotechnics to top off the night. Workers at Dallas-based Illumination Fireworks were already preparing for their evening show at 2 p.m., hours before the scheduled start time. Rows of fireworks boxes lined the roof of the PlazAmericas parking lot, waiting to be set off in an elaborate routine later in the evening.
“If all people hear about Sharpstown is shootings, murders and crimes, you’ll tend to think that’s all we have. We try to counter that by saying, yeah, every part of Houston has that, but look at everything else. So we just have to shout and shout for people to come see what this place is really like,” LeBlanc said.