SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Plaza is looking to bounce back with the possible help of a trampoline park.

The new owners of the plaza – Albany Road Real Estate and Davenport Companies – are talking with the operators of an indoor trampoline attraction that might one day occupy the former bowling alley now partially occupied by Planet Fitness.

Bruce Nolen, managing director at Albany Road Real Estate, couldn't give a lot of details about those trampolines. But he did say that the shopping center has signed a lease with Dr. Dental, a regional chain, to occupy now vacant space next to the Dollar Tree.

And work will begin in March on $1.5 million in facade, signage and walkway improvements. It will be coupled with more than $1 million in roof repairs planned for this year and significant lighting upgrades in the parking lot already completed.

In March 2014, executives at Albany Road Real Estate and Davenport announced their $35 million purchase of the plaza and promised a total of $4 million to $5 million in renovations over a few years.

But months went by without noticeable improvements, especially to the sidewalk fronting stores in the strip mall and to the overhanging walkway.

The reason it seemed very little was being done, Nolen said, is that by the time plans were finalized it was getting late in 2014. Landlords did not want to both fight the weather and disrupt shoppers during the busy Christmas season.

"This is a major asset for us," Nolen said "Everything you heard is going to be executed."

Built in the 1950s, the 440,000-square-foot shopping center is in the Liberty Heights neighborhood near the Chicopee line. It was once the site of the Springfield Airport. A plaque honoring the speedy Gee-Bee airplane is still on display.

Springfield Plaza has a Stop & Shop supermarket and gas station as its main draw.

Anchor tenants also include KMart, a chain that has long lost sales to rivals Walmart and Target. But there are no Walmarts or Targets near the Springfield Plaza.

Other tenants include discount retailers like Dollar Tree, Ocean State Job Lot, used goods re-seller Savers and Joey's Shopping Spree.

Koffee Kup Bakery, a local favorite also popular with the state's new governor, is the longest tenured business in the plaza and drew a steady stream of customers on a recent afternoon.

The movie theater, vacated this month when Entertainment Cinemas closed, is no longer part of the plaza and is not under the same ownership. Owners W.P. Realty of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, repeatedly declined to return calls for comment.

However Nolen said he is confident that a new movie theater operator will take the space, making the cinemas once again a draw to the plaza.

"If you have the theater, the trampoline park, those work together as a draw," he said.

Rocky's Ace Hardware has a strong customer base in the surrounding neighborhoods, said Geoff Webb, spokesman for the Springfield-based Rocky's chain.

"It's a very good store for us and it's a very good location," Webb said. "It can be a very nice plaza, especially with improvements to the parking lot and the look."

Rocky's recently introduced Stihl brand power equipment to the Springfield Plaza location to great success, Webb said. Rocky's management has been considering a renovation of the store, but Rocky's has held off waiting for the landlords to upgrade the rest of the Plaza.

Plaza-wide, Nolen's employers plan to remove 1,300 linear feet of canopy over the sidewalk. The roof makes the area seem dark.

They will also update the facades and install a stucco surface in most of the storefronts. They also plan to install lighted bollards, probably square posts, marking the edge of the sidewalk — "anything we can do to enhance our visitors' sense of security and well-being," he said.

The office tower, now vacant, might be covered with signage and banners to help promote the stores, Nolen said. That tower could be rented out if a willing office tenant or tenants can be found, but that isn't a priority now.

There are no longer plans to "skin" the office tower, leaving it only as a steel frame for advertising and communications antennae.

Nolen said he's always on the lookout for more retailers, particularly value-oriented chains.

"I think the discount retailers seem to be in the right demographic and they have been successful," he said.