Winrock Town Center is an open-air mixed-use development under construction in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. The center is anchored by two Dillard's locations and a Regal 16-screen IMAX and RPX Theatre. The town center is located on the site of the original Winrock Shopping Center, which opened in 1961 as the first regional shopping mall in New Mexico. Pre-Winrock history (1920-1961) In June 1920, the University of New Mexico purchased a lot on what was then known as Albuquerque's East Mesa. The original intent UNM had with purchasing this lot was to transform it into a garden to produce vegetables for residential students. However, this idea was scrapped and the lot was left empty. About three decades later, the University of New Mexico began to sell off plots of its East Mesa site to residential developers, with the first going to Ed Snow in 1953 and another to Dale Bellemah in 1956. This paved the way for new subdivisions and a new large population movement to this new part of Albuquerque. Soon enough, this would result in the need for the establishment of a retail area. This led to a 1958 meeting between then-UNM President Tom Popejoy and Winthrop Rockefeller, where they negotiated building a new regional shopping mall to be built on some of the last plots of UNM's East Mesa land. Winrock Shopping Center (1961–2011) Winrock Shopping Center opened on March 1, 1961, on a lot near the planned Coronado Freeway. The $10 million project was a joint venture between the University of New Mexico, which owned the land, and soon-to-be Arkansas governor Winthrop Rockefeller, who was also responsible for construction of the Bank of New Mexico Building around the same time. Architect Victor Gruen, who was a refugee from Nazi-occupied Austria, designed the mall. Winrock was New Mexico's first regional shopping center and was viewed as a symbol of progress and modernity, attracting around 30,000 visitors on its first day of operation. The original tenants included Montgomery Ward, JCPenney, S.S. Kresge, and Safeway, with a Fedway store opening shortly afterward. Fox Winrock Theater, a freestanding movie theater off of Indian School Road, and an attached motor hotel opened in 1963. In March 1965, the rival Coronado Center was dedicated a short distance away. However, Winrock remained profitable for many years. Dillard's established their first store there in late 1971, when they rebranded the existing Fedway location.