The warmth of summer sunshine and the sound of trickling water will be just a step outside the stores in the Bend River Mall once a series of renovations there are complete in August.

Donald Stevens, the Bend architect who worked on the Bon Marche expansion in 1999, is giving the mall a makeover with a splash of water, a lot of sunshine and the red lava tones of the desert.

Among some of the renovations taking place, Stevens said, are the installation of flared skylights along the length of the mall, a tall, new water fountain in the center with a tiled seating area, new earth-tone floor designs incorporating the mall’s logo, and new furniture.

”It’s a new, fresh image for the Bend River Mall,” he said. The renovations, which could cost as much as $2 million, said Dean George, Bend River Mall manager, are part of the the mall’s effort to renew itself and gain a competitive edge in Bend’s growing retail market.

”Retail has changed from the time the mall was built,” George said. ”That was 20 years ago. We’re trying to keep up with the face of retailers and to make it an attractive place for retailers to do business.”

A wave of covered malls sprouted up around the country in the 1970s and early 1980s, but many have fallen victim to age and changing consumer habits.

”The ones that are closing are the ones not staying competitive,” George said.

Though the Bend River Mall has been well maintained, he said, its future success will depend on creating a new look, and attracting a round of retailers to fill vacancies among its 48 units.

”Each (retailer) looks for something different,” George said. ”They want to be where there’s a reason for people to come and shop. They look at the overall image of the property, the town and city, and who’s coming to that mall and why.” Bend River Mall LLC, is climbing on board with the latest shopping center trends.

”Twenty years ago it was the thing to have a dimly-lit facility,” George said. ”Now it’s open and light and cheery.” Changes in the mall began taking place in 1999 when the Bon Marche expanded its retail space and opened The Cube. Last January construction began on a new entrance and parking lot on the Parkway side of the building.

As George watched the Parkway traffic rushing by on Wednesday, he said he hoped the new entrance and parking lot will make the mall more recognizeable and draw some of that traffic in.

In addition to the renovations, three pads of property, two of them 10,000 square feet and one of up to 30,000 square feet, have been leveled outside the parameter of the new parking lot and are available for development by future stores and restaurants, George said.

Despite fierce retail competition and the challenge of moving an older mall in a new direction, George feels optimistic that Bend River Mall will remain steadfast.

”There is still a place in Central Oregon for an enclosed mall,” he said.