Washington Prime Group, Inc. announced a partnership with the DeBartolo-York family to design a new four-acre athletic and entertainment venue. 

That venue will be named the DeBartolo Commons at the Southern Park Mall. 

The demolition of the Sears store is to be replaced by the DeBartolo Commons, which includes an athletic and entertainment green space and an event venue. 

The CEO of Washington Prime Group said the venue will include a new row of retail, a band stand and a stage.

They are currently in the process of determining how to convert it for skating in the winter, as well as adding fire pits and bringing in food trucks. 

"In honor of the entire DeBartolo York family, the DeBartolo Commons will be a place where people can hang out. We are working with Boardman Township about this being a hub for youth sports. We hope to have a great concert series. Whether it's coffee, craft brewery, if it's the best, we are interested in having it here," said Lou Conforti, CEO of Washington Prime Group. "We are focusing on local and regional food, craft beers, and plenty of leisure activities for guests to unwind. I know you guys like wedding soup. Find me the best wedding soup purveyor and I am going to give them free space."

The Washington Prime Group operates about 30 stores nationally that are being updated out of about 130 malls they own, and Southern Park is one of them. 

Adjacent to the DeBartolo Commons Southern Park Mall are plans to add a golf entertainment center as well as new food and beverage offerings. 

A renovation of the Southern Park Mall, which was built by the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation, is also scheduled to include a dynamic common area including a permanent DeBartolo-York family installation as well as several exciting tenants. 

"Our goal is to take the south end of the site of the former Sears building, and once that is taken down, make that into an entertainment district. The goal is for it to be anchored by DeBartolo Commons which is going to be about a four acre space. It's going to be mixed with field turf and regular grass. The point is to make it really flexible and make it so you can host a lot of events over the hot summer months without it getting mucky or muddy when it rains," said Matt Jurkowitz, Vice President of Development for Washington Prime Group."We are going to try to leverage the energy and activity here for the benefit of the community. We think this could be a town center for Boardman and for the South side of Youngstown. We want folks to come here and use it. It's going to be an impressive space."

The demolition will continue over the next few months and the new space should be ready by summer or fall of 2020. 

"We will be in a position to have a really great 50th anniversary celebration with the DeBartolo-York family and dedicate this space," said Jurkowitz. "By that time, we expect to have some pretty great tenants that will be open to service the huge crowds we hope to bring to our property. The mall will be renovated also."

He said the transformation will include making many store fronts exterior facing instead of interior facing, or facing the inside of the mall.

The group also plans to have the food court transformed into an interior, exterior food hall.