Freedomland U.S.A. — the history-themed amusement park built to rival Disneyland in 1960 — didn’t survive long, filing for bankruptcy after its first four years in operation in the Baychester section of the Bronx.

Nearly five decades later, the Bay Plaza shopping center, which sits today on the same plot of land where Freedomland folded, has achieved success as the city’s largest retail complex, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

A $300 million expansion anchored by Macy’s and JCPenney will grow the complex to about 2 million square feet by 2014, the WSJ reports.