Last month I wrote about how Coral Ridge Mall was divided between two school districts. It turns out it’s not the only one like that in Iowa.
Merle Hay Mall is split not just between the Des Moines and Urbandale school districts, but the cities of Des Moines and Urbandale as well. Below is a display of the mall from the Polk County Assessor’s Office.
The thick black line is the parcel separation, city limits, school district boundary, and what would have been an extension of 62nd Street if the mall hadn’t beaten the development here. The Des Moines Register says the original open-air mall opened in 1959. Aerial photos show it started entirely on the Des Moines side. The line is almost, but not quite, down the north-south interior hallway of the mall south of Kohl’s (upper left corner).
Like Lindale Mall in Cedar Rapids, MHM is losing two anchors in a short span of time. Younkers is going out of business on the Urbandale side (mid-left corner), and the second-to-last Sears in Iowa (upper right corner) will close in mid- to late October. That leaves the Kohl’s and Target (lower right) as anchors.