University of North Alabama - Diorama Yearbook (Florence, AL)

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As the doors open, excited shoppers pour into the mall. Merchants esti- mated that between 20,000 and 40,000 people came through the mall on opening day. With so many students going to work at Regency Square, there is a short- age of workers on campus, as evi- denced by this help wanted sign in Friday ' s in the SUB. Mall 21

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Regency Square Takes Flight The theme of Pizitz ' s grand opening Pizitz takes flight, seemed to set the pace for the atmosphere of the opening on August 16 of the entire mall at Reg- ency Square. There was quite a carnival - like atmosphere in the excitement of the day, complete with throngs of people and colorful helium filled balloons. Many of the people were act- ually buying things the day of the open- ing, but most people were just looking. There is quite a bit to just look at. The mall, a huge maze of shops on a 65-acre tract on Cox Creek Parkway, con- tains five major department stores as well as 71 other shops, and has the dis- tinction of being the largest mall in North Alabama. It contains 630,000 square feet of shopping space. Balloons with the legend Take flight with Pizitz fill the air on the day of the grand opening. Sarah Lowerey, a sophomore from Leigh- ton, filled the balloons with helium. Security is always a problem when so many people crowded into stores, but on opening day there were no major problems. Five sheriffs deputies in uniform and some not in uni- form helped the Regency Secur- ity force keep everything under control. 20

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A typical day on Court Street means a lack of empty parking places. The construction of a parking deck downtown is expected to relieve some of the congestion in the parking situation. 22