On a cloudy, cool Saturday morning around 1993, my father and I drove to an isolated section of the parking lot at Greenspoint Mall.

It was my first time behind the wheel of a car, which in this case was actually a boat disguised as a 1985 Buick Century station wagon.

The road test went well. I braked, accelerated, turned left and right. With the parking lot virtually empty, we pretty much had the space to ourselves.

That's one of many memories I have of Greenspoint Mall, which turns 40 today.

Growing up, did you ever have a mall that you could call your own? You know, the place where you met up with your friends, hung out at the arcade, shopped for school clothes? It was the center of your social universe until you entered that phase in your life when all the cool stuff was, alas, not in suburbia, but rather the inner city.

Greenspoint Mall was that kind of place for me. It's where, on Saturday afternoons, I saw just about every 1980s blockbuster at the General Cinema, from "Blade Runner" to "Aliens" to "Batman." It's where my allowance disappeared at places like Aladdin's Castle and Babbage's. It's where I stood in long lines with other music fans waiting for the Foley's Ticketmaster to open so I could grab tickets to see the Rolling Stones or Eric Clapton.

These days, though, I don't go to Greenspoint Mall anymore, mainly because I've moved and my shopping habits have changed.

Urban art Greenspoint Mall had at least two significant art installations in the early days. * According to a 1978 Chronicle article, "Almost Calculated" was a musical sculpture "composed of 24 counterbalanced tubes controlled by a constant flow of water. As the tubes descend, they strike brass and antique cymbals cut to create five notes." It was created by Baltimore sculptors Bill Powell and Dan Sellers. * The sculpture court featured a 2,000 pound bronze statue by local artist G. Pat Foley that featured three life-size children playing on a swing.

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A godsend

Before Greenspoint, there was Greensgate.

Our files begin in 1974 with news that Federated Stores Realty was set to begin construction of a shopping mall at the corner of I-45 and the North Belt. At 1.2 million square feet, the mall would dwarf some of Houston's earliest shopping centers.

In a Nov. 17 Houston Post article from that year, developers said the "interior landscaping will be used to create the illusion of a brick-paved street lined with shops. Natural light from clerestories and skylights will permit planting full-grown trees in three courtyards."

In all, the mall was part of a larger, 375-acre development that included offices and residential units that backers said wouldn't be completed until the mid-1980s.

To residents in the rapidly growing region of north Harris County, the mall was a godsend. Before then, suburbanites had to make the trek to Northwest Mall or Northline Mall if they wanted to go to a Montgomery Ward, Foley's or any other major department store. Greenspoint – as it was called by 1976 – was a game-changer.

"This will save me a trip out to Northwest Mall. This one doesn't seem too crimped up. It's got lots of pretty trees and lots of places to shop. Yes, I think I'll do most of my shopping here," Gloria Murray told Houston Post reporter Mike Avalos the day it opened.

From Avalos' Aug. 6 article:

By noon, thousands of Houston area residents streamed through the corridors. A balloon bounced on a string above nearly every child, and there were balloons everywhere.

Many of the strollers said they were there to sightsee, to find out where the different shops are, to find an item on sale or just to see whom they could see.

In that same article, John Pearson and his wife described the scene this way:

"Everyone has a smile. This is a happy place."

Two years later, Federated pulled out all the stops when the mall added a Montgomery Ward and 14 other shops. Darth Vader, Chewbacca and R2D2 traveled from a galaxy far, far away for the occasion, along with "Kojak" actor Kevin Dobson.

A Lord & Taylor was added in 1979, with Joske's anchoring the south end of the mall in 1980. By then there were more than 160 stores at the mall.

The 'Gunspoint' name

Just after Thanksgiving 1981, a disturbing story appeared in the Houston Chronicle noting that area malls were becoming a hotspot for crime. From the article:

Houston's shopping malls, the sprawling cities-within-a-city where each day thousands of urban and suburban customers habitually browse and buy, have become a haven as well for muggers, killers and rapists, police say.

[...]

Although officers interviewed said they encountered crime problems in all of the city's malls, they mentioned Greenspoint Mall and the Galleria most frequently as problem areas.

In 1986, the Chronicle reported that police used bait cars at the mall and other area shopping centers to catch thieves.

From Steve Friedman's article that April 1:

Police made 72 arrests in an 18-day sting operation in which officers planted flashy cars at three Houston malls and videotaped thieves trying to steal them.

[...]

The operation began March 5 and lasted 18 working days, ending Thursday. About 30 officers from the North Shepherd substation and the auto theft division sat in vans and videotaped the thieves at Greenspoint Mall in north Houston, Almeda Mall in southeast Houston and Deauville shopping center on the North Freeway.

The malls were chosen, Mosier said, because of their high number of auto thefts.

According to a recent Houston Police Department survey, Greenspoint led eight other area malls in cars stolen during the 12 months ending Oct. 3 with 360. Almeda was second with 334 stolen.

It's worth noting that no mall back then was crime-free. Over the last 40 years crimes both petty and violent occurred at Houston-area shopping centers. But in the early 1990s there were two incidents at the mall that largely gave rise to a term that sticks in the minds of many Houstonians to this day: Gunspoint.

Two high-profile crimes

One evening in September 1991, off-duty sheriff's deputy Roxyann Allee was walking to her car parked near Dillard's when witnesses saw two armed men force her inside her Ford Aerostar van.

About 90 minutes later, authorities found Allee's van engulfed in flames near T.C. Jester and Laurel Creek. A short time after that, Allee's body was found less than a mile away from the burned van with gunshot wounds to the head. The married mother of two had been with the department for four years.

Investigators believe the murder could have been a carjacking, according to a 2011 article by reporter Anita Hassan, but after learning Allee was a deputy, the men attempted to cover up the crime by torching the van.

The murder remains unsolved.

A little more than a year later, taxi driver Larry D. Gipson was shot in the back of the head by a passenger while outside the Bealls Department Store. The gunman was quickly arrested and later convicted in the murder.

Changes for the better

By then, area merchants and property owners were fed up. In the early 1990s, the Greater Greenspoint Management District was formed to provide additional security and give the region a boost.

In a 1994 Chronicle article, district leaders noted that crime in the area had been on the decline and that new businesses were moving in. Both Harris County deputies and HPD officers now had a permanent presence at the mall.

The changes were for the better, shoppers noted.

Shoppers say the increased security and the fact that there is a police station in the mall makes them feel safe.

"I don't have any problems coming here. I know that the place had a reputation for crime but I don't think that is the situation now," said shopper Carol Johnson.

"I've been coming here for years and things have changed. It seems like you see security guards all the time," she added.

Another mall patron, Penelope Wilson, said she is comfortable at the mall and even shops there at night, something she never used to do anywhere in Houston.

"You have to be careful all the time no matter where you go these days. But I think they have made an extra effort here to make things better and it really shows," she said.

Two years later, former KPRC-TV reporter and police spokesman Jack Cato said Greenspoint was "probably the safest area in the city."

More challenges

At the same time, shifting demographics and changes to the region's retail landscape created more trouble for the shopping center.

Malls like Willowbrook, Deerbrook and The Woodlands Mall stole away those suburban shoppers that made Greenspoint a destination place in the 1970s and 1980s.

Today, the Sears is gone along with Montgomery Ward and J.C. Penney. Also gone are Piccadilly Cafeteria and the very first Visible Changes salon. The same goes for Chick-fil-A, The Gap, KB Toys and dozens of other stores that leased space there.

Palais Royal, Macy's and Dillards remain though. For movie goers, the Premiere Renaissance 15 has filled the void left when the General Cinema theater closed.

(Crime, like everywhere else in Houston, will never go away. In 2007, Joanna Starr Gonzales was killed while working at a lingerie shop at the mall. Troubled with personal issues, Ohio native Jason Hawkins had set out on a path of destruction earlier that day before arriving at the mall and ultimately killing Gonzales, someone he had never met. Hawkins ended up killing himself.)

What's next?

So as Greenspoint Mall nears middle age, its future remains unclear.

For the last six months the mall has been on the market. Ace Schlameus, senior vice president with Colliers International, the commercial real estate company responsible for marketing the site to potential buyers, says there has been some interest in the property.

Whether it continues as a rejuvenated retail space or a campus linked to an academic institution hinges on a finding a buyer with the right vision and capital, he said.

But the chances of Greenspoint Mall's return to that day 40 years ago when Houstonians made it one of the city's top retail centers is probably behind us.

"This is probably going to be a redevelopment effort," Schlameus said.

Though not associated with mall operations, folks with the Greenspoint District have a keen interest in seeing the site make a comeback.

"We are excited about the possible redevelopment of Greenspoint Mall," according to an emailed statement. "We know that the mall site has the potential to be a focal point of this community again, just as it was a signature development for this area when it opened in 1976."