Mizner Park is a high-end shopping, residential, and entertainment district located in the affluent downtown neighborhood of

Boca Raton, Florida Boca Raton ( ; ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 97,422 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and it ranked as the 23rd-largest city in Florida in 2022. Many people with a Boca Raton Address, ...

. The district consists of a collection of high-end shops and restaurants with luxury apartments built in a Mediterranean Revival architectural style. The mall opened in 1991 on the site of the former Boca Mall, which opened in 1974. The Centre for the Arts at Mizner Park is located on the north end of the development, which includes an

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meani ...

and the

Boca Raton Museum of Art Founded by artists, the Boca Raton Museum of Art was established in 1950 as the Art Guild of Boca Raton. The organization has grown to encompass an Art School, Guild, Store, and Museum with permanent collections of contemporary art, photography, ...

Cooper Carry Cooper Carry is a U.S.-based design firm providing architecture, planning, landscape architecture, interior design and environmental graphic design. The company is based in Atlanta with offices in Alexandria, Virginia and New York City. Cooper C ...

designed Mizner as a classical Mediterranean Revival town center. It is named for architect

Addison Mizner Addison Cairns Mizner ( ) (December 12, 1872 – February 5, 1933) was an American architect whose Mediterranean Revival Style architecture, Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival architecture, Spanish Colonial Revival style interpret ...

, founder of Boca Raton.

History

The site of Mizner Park was previously a conventional enclosed shopping center called Boca Mall, which opened in 1974. Boca Mall was originally anchored by Britt's and Jefferson Ward. The former closed in 1982 and was temporarily occupied by

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

offices until 1985, when it was converted to Levitz Furniture. In 1989, Levitz relocated and Jefferson Ward closed. The colloquial term "

dive bar A dive bar is typically a small, unglamorous, eclectic, old-style drinking establishment with inexpensive drinks; it may feature dim lighting, shabby or dated decor, neon beer signs, packaged beer sales, cash-only service, and local clientele. ...

" may have entered widespread use as a result of a bar located in the mall in its final days. The closure of these anchors led to the mall's demolition and redevelopment. Mizner Park opened in 1991, expanding in 1996 with a

Jacobson's Jacobson's was an American regional upscale department store chain. Based in Jackson, Michigan, the chain operated primarily in Michigan and Florida, but also had stores in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Kansas. Jacobson's focused on apparel, fine j ...

department store. Jacobson's closed in July 2002 after the chain declared bankruptcy, and its location became Robb & Stucky Interiors in 2003. After Robb & Stucky also declared bankruptcy, its store was closed as well. The building was converted to

Lord & Taylor Lord & Taylor was an American department store chain founded in 1826 by Samuel Lord. It had 86 full-line stores in the Northeastern United States at its peak in the 2000s, and 38 locations at the time of its liquidation in 2021. The Lord & Tay ...

in 2013. It was home to the National Cartoon Museum from 1992 to 2002. In 2017, Ouzo Bay opened at Mizner Park. It closed in 2019.

Amphitheater

The Mizner Park Amphitheater (originally known as the Count de Hoernle Amphitheater) is an outdoor amphitheater located in Boca Raton, Florida. It can be found in the northeast corner of Mizner Park, an outdoor shopping center in Pearl City. It was named after the Count and Countess de Hoernle. The mid-sized venue cost $6.2 million to construct. It consists of a stage surrounded by a

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

with a statue and fountain at the entrance of the lawn area. The venue seats 3,520, which can be expanded to 4,200 in a general admission setting. The venue opened in November 2002 with an inauguration ceremony by Henrietta Rach de Hoernle, followed a concert by Florida Symphony Orchestra. The city took ownership of the amphitheatre in September 2010, changing the venue's name as well. It is the summer home to the Boca Raton Symphonia.

Gallery

Image:MiznerBoca2Mch06.jpg, The street median functions as a promenade Image:MiznerBocaPelican.jpg, Sculpture of an

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

pelican

External links

Mizner Park Cultural CenterArchived site for the amphitheatreArchived site for the Centre for the Arts

References

{{authority control Brookfield Properties Shopping malls in Palm Beach County, Florida Shopping malls established in 1991 Pedestrian malls in the United States Buildings and structures in Boca Raton, Florida Planned communities in Florida 1991 establishments in Florida