CBS12 News Team

Security a concern among residents at Palm Beach Mall preview meeting

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- We know a new mall will be built at the site at I-95 and Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, but what will it look like? Tonight, some people who live near the old mall got a preview.

In its heyday, the Palm Beach Mall was one of the hottest destinations in the area. It opened back in 1967. You will soon see some changes here, and beginning in June or July the old mall will be torn down to make way for something new.

Hundreds of people packed a ballroom at the President Country Club to find out what developers plan to do with the old Palm Beach Mall.

"The current site only has about 3 acres of landscaping. We're going replace it with about 12 football fields of landscaping, so it'll be significantly different," said Ken Tuma, planner for outlet mall.

Officials say they've signed some tenants for the new Palm Beach Fashion Outlets, but they won't name any of the stores yet. The only one they'll confirm is JC Penney.

"We can't mention any names because lease negotiations are on. But my wife is very happy. There are a lot of opportunities for lots of shopping," said Tuma.

The new open-air mall will include 80-100 outlet stores grouped together with open-air walkways in the center of the property and a row of about ten large retail stores situated along I-95.

"It seems to be a home-run for us. We've done a lot of homework on this site for over 2 years," said Tom Carabine, developer's representative.

They'll have security guards patrolling the parking lot 24 hours a day. If people were uneasy about coming here before, officials say they can put those fears aside.

"How can you assure people they're going to be safe coming to this new mall?

"We're going to have valet parking, we're gonna have bright lights, we're gonna have security that's very well prevalent, you'll see city police there as well," said Carabine.

Most folks in the crowd give the project a thumbs up.

"This will be fantastic and it's something we need here," said Donna Shlensky, lives near mall.

"I'm very hopeful, I think its gonna be wonderful," Ellen Daniel, lives near mall.

One neighbor feels having adequate security will be important.

"Security has been a big concern, a lot of us have been talking about the security factor. And with what was presented this afternoon, that takes that fear out of the picture. I think it'll help the area tremendously," said Jack Lieberman, lives near mall.

Demolition is supposed to start in June or July.

The new outlet mall is supposed to open in the fall of 2013.

Monday, May 7 2012, 11:34 PM EDT

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