Chick-Fil-A Is Leaving Sunland Park Mall

The news that Chick-Fil-A is going to close it's Sunland Park Mall location is probably not surprising given how badly things are going at the west El Paso retail center. Macy's and Forever 21 closed in 2017, and Sears is expected to close next month. There are still two Dillard's and Starr Western Wear, a local retailer, bought the Macy's location and opened its third El Paso store in Sunland Park in August of last year.

There are still a number of stores at Sunland Park Mall, but it is renting space cheaper than Bassett Place, a considerably smaller mall. So what could be done with the empty spaces at Sunland?

1. Put in a zip line - There are a lot of tall ceilings at the mall. Think how cool it would be to zip line through all that space.

2. Make it an epic workout space - Instead of sweating it out running stadium steps in the hot El Paso sun, just put in a bank of stadium steps from the ground level to the upper level. I might be willing to do those stadium stairs in a nice, air-conditioned space!

3. Chico's Tacos - Look, we all know that waiting for Chico's sucks. A bigger space means less wait time!

4. EPISD headquarters - Bathrooms, pretty decor, wide-open spaces for tons of desks and offices, this is a move-in opportunity for the district. It would also mean they wouldn't have to spend millions of dollars building a new building we don't need. There's even room for the planetarium and tons of parking. Look into it, EPISD!