Trolley Square: Shopping mall is undergoing spiffy $60 million renovation

While new buildings will spring up and more sunshine will pour through skylights, visitors to Trolley Square need only look down to see a symbol of the changes taking place there.

Gone are layers of wax that darkened the distinctive brick floor. The floor now has a warm, golden tone.

That is just one part of a makeover that the old trolley barns — a century old next year — are getting to make the place "lighter and brighter" and more inviting by adding new elements but retaining the shopping center's character.

"It's an incredibly unique project, and it's iconic, really, and we've been really overwhelmed by the community's affection for Trolley Square," said Jerry Hunt, co-founder and president of Blake Hunt Ventures, the development partner for Trolley Square Associates LLC.

"There's a lot of emotional attachment to Trolley. What we wanted to do from the very beginning ... is not take away from Trolley but really add some other components and dimensions to it. We think it's a wonderful project and had great 'bones.' We just wanted to enhance it and add to it."

The first of the $60 million in changes were started in April, and the completion is still two years away. Among the highlights are new retail buildings along the western edge that will be atop a new parking area, as well as a new building for Whole Foods in the northeast quadrant, improved pedestrian corridors, gathering areas for families and elements to make the interior more "open."

During a media tour Wednesday, Hunt explained how the two-level, 160,000-square-foot center will eventually have 345,000 square feet of space and improvements.

At the east entrance, a "see-through" staircase has replaced escalators in a formerly dark, confined area. That's one example of how the shopping center can energize and attract visitors, Hunt said.

The south end, with the enclosed skybridge connecting to a parking lot across 600 South, will have more retail space and perhaps another restaurant. The mall is experimenting with free valet parking at that site. The lower level is likely to have a "tremendous gathering place" in the existing amphitheater, Hunt said.

The west side will have perhaps the most noticeable changes. Starting early next year, the existing two-level parking garage along the street will be demolished. In its place by next fall will be 40,000 square feet in the form of three new buildings atop a 300-space below-ground parking area.