Sunrise Mall was a two-story, enclosed shopping mall in Corpus Christi, Texas. It is located at the intersection of Airline Rd. & S. Padre Island Drive. Current tenants include Planet Fitness, New Life Church (formerly The Summit Church), Freedom Fitness, and Little Woodrow's Bar. Mall History Early years and Prosperity (1979–1987) With construction crews breaking ground on November 1, 1979, Sunrise Mall was built over a 15-month period in the early 1980s on property less than 1,000 feet from the existing Padre Staples Mall (now La Palmera). Grand opening ceremonies were held on February 4, 1981, with Joske's, Frost Bros. and Sears as the mall's primary anchors. An H-E-B grocery store, present before the mall's opening, was on site. In its early years, the mall competed well against nearby Padre Staples Mall. Despite its close proximity to a competing mall, most retailers chose to locate duplicate locations within the new mall rather than close their existing ones. The mall flourished during the early 1980s, earning minor fame as a filming location for the film The Legend of Billie Jean. In response to a renovation and expansion of Padre Staples Mall, management began a major expansion and renovation in 1987 which was to add a new anchor store, Mervyn's, a movie theater, a nautical-themed food court, and two parking garages. In the midst of their renovations, however, Sunrise was dealt a blow when Joske's was purchased by Dillard's. Already having a location at Padre Staples Mall, Dillard's management chose to close the Sunrise Mall location, leaving Sunrise with one of their major anchor stores vacant. Montgomery Ward, however, stepped in and took over the location in November of the same year Gradual Downfall (1988–2007) In April 1988, just two months after completing renovations, Frost Bros. announced that they were closing their Corpus Christi location due to financial difficulties. Problems began to beset the retailers at Sunrise almost immediately. Many retailers were already finding it difficult to justify operating two stores within such proximity to one another. Gradually, major retailers began to migrate back to Padre Staples Mall. In 1990, the now closed H-E-B store on the property was connected to the mall by a corridor and re-opened as a Stein Mart, adding a sixth anchor store to the property. After more than four years, the Frost Bros. location was taken over in 1992 by Burlington Coat Factory, a retailer not normally