Wynnewood Vi age

The new owners of Wynnewood Village plan to renovate some of the shopping center’s buildings, reconfigure the driveways and add a movie theater and a gym.

The owner, Brixmor Property Group, intends to keep parts of the property intact and make overall improvements. In June City Council approved spending $2.4 million to upgrade the shopping center’s storm drainage system.

Brixmor also has pitched tearing parts of Wynnewood down — they already demolished a 1965 bank building.

Buildings that could be demolished include an old Texaco station and the former Goff’s Charcoal Hamburgers building that is now a laundromat.

The hamburger joint’s owner, Harvey Gough, at one time owned nine Goff’s in the Dallas area. Gough was running Harvey’s Charcoal Hamburgers in Preston Hollow until this past January. He’s a cantankerous Dallas character, infamous for yelling at customers and his refusal to serve males who had long hair during the Vietnam War era.

The last of the Goff’s stores is still operating near SMU.

Several interesting buildings have been demolished at Wynnewood throughout the years, including the Wynnewood Hotel and an office building, both designed by original Wynnewood

1947-1954

Village architects DeWitt and Swank.

A standalone Sears store and the Wynnewood Theater also have been lost to demolition.

Wynnewood was a regional shopping destination until Red Bird Mall was built in the 1970s.

“The DeWitt and Swank design was cutting-edge, and the layout of the center made it highly successful until the shopping mall rose in prominence,” says David Preziosi of Preservation Dallas.

As Wynnewood Village receives attention and renewal, we hope it doesn’t lose its original character and design.