The Beginning
Del Webb Corporation built Chris-Town on eighty acres of farm land east of 19th Ave. and south of Bethany Home Rd.
The first indoor air-conditioned mall in Arizona, it measured precisely a thousand feet from end to end.
Before and after construction, 1959-61.
Early artist's conception of Chris-Town, 1960
Chris Harri, the Swiss born farmer who sold Del Webb the land for Chris-Town in 1955
and for whom the mall was named. He died in 1971 at the age of 94.
Kansas City sculptor Jac T Bowen created two unique and popular sculptures for
Chris-Town Mall: Ferdinand the Bull and a colorful Roadrunner. Ferdinand was originally
placed in the Court of Flowers and the Roadrunner in the Court of Birds. The photos below
were taken just after the project's completion and before the pieces were shipped to the mall.
Artist: Jac T Bowen
Photos by Fred C. Stebbins