TEMPLE, Texas (KXXV) — Temple Mall, now in its 50th anniversary year, faces a potential temporary closure as the city issued a compliance notice for fire and safety issues. Many spaces inside the mall are vacant or closed off, but the community still shows up — and many say they hope to see it thrive again.
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Angie White has walked through Temple Mall regularly with a group of friends and remembers when it was a destination.
"When it was first opened back in the mid 70s, the early 80s, I thought it was a great mall. I loved it. When I moved up here three years ago, I was a little shocked that it had gone into this state and just in the three years, I'd say another half a dozen stores had closed at least," White said.
Her friend Cecillia Jones said the mall serves as more than a shopping destination for their group.
"We really enjoy it. It's fun. It's fellowship for us, and we get to see the stores in the mall, and a lot of us stop and eat… I really enjoy it. I'm gonna miss it if we have to stop," Jones said.
Rob Brandenburg owns three businesses in the mall, including Peggy's Coffee House, which is approaching its 12th anniversary. Brandenburg said he fell in love with the mall as a kid watching both of his parents work there. After getting through a temporary closure following the Temple tornado in 2024, he said he is confident in the mall's success.
Brandenburg said business owners learned about the city's compliance notice through a letter and had a sense it might be coming.
"We did find out through a letter that was handed to us and we had a feeling that it might be coming just because we can see how things aren't getting done and it's unfortunate that there has to be a strict severe consequence for ownership to act. What we can say is that they are moving forward with repairs and that has already begun." Brandenburg said.
Since the letter Brandenburg tells 25 News he has seen improvement efforts and crews out to look at the compliance issues. Brandenburg said the mall holds a unique place in the local business community and believes the community's support can help it bounce back.
"To kind of put it in perspective, there's actually more small local businesses in the square footage of this mall than anywhere else in central Texas of equal square footage, so it presents a unique opportunity to support local small businesses in your community, and I think that's important, and we all hope that the mall can bounce back and become something new and exciting, but we certainly want the small businesses to be sprinkled in within it," Brandenburg said.
He added that the memories people have of the mall can fuel its future.
"People remember what it used to be to them, and they can hope that it will be something similar to them even now, and there's just a reality that it takes extra effort to get out and support what you have, even if it doesn't seem like much in our Temple Mall at this time," Brandenburg said.
Neighbors who spoke with 25 News said they hope to see more experiences and relevant local businesses added to the mall going forward.
The mall owner did not respond to a request for comment. The deadline for the mall to be brought up to code is June 22.
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