plans announced for retro scottsdale shopping center upgrade

A one-story south Scottsdale, Arizona shopping center known for its smooth mid-1960s design features may soon be upgraded.

What is popularly referred to as the House of Rice strip mall is located at 3215 N. Hayden Road and has been described by the Arizona Republic as a “wonderful example of midcentury modern architecture.”

Now the Scottsdale-based Clayton Companies, a full-service property management firm, has announced plans to upgrade the building, while at the same time remaining true to its original modernist feel.

According to city documents, the building will see the installation of new shade canopies and roof-top mechanical screening.

The building’s storefronts will be “replaced with new aluminum storefronts of the same clear anodized aluminum color, while gaining a new higher performance insulated grazing, reducing the solar heat gain,” says an application narrative submitted by project designer Aline Architecture Concepts of Scottsdale.

The upgrade will also include several patios, courtyards, and paved paths.

Undoubtedly, the most unique aspect of the upgrade will be the incorporation of a 36-foot tall frame from the former Polynesian Dairy Queen that was designed in 1964 by well-known architect Ralph Haver.

That frame was recently dismantled and removed from its original site near 68th and Oak streets, with plans to attach it to the N. Hayden Road structure.

That attachment, says the Aline Architecture document, will contribute to a new restaurant space  with “extensive and tasteful renovations including re-roofing, re-glazing, and re-painted wood trim.”

The project is currently in the process of being reviewed by the City of Scottsdale’s Development Review Board.

By Garry Boulard

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