I’ve always had a thing for trolling around in dying malls. Having lived in Phoenix for many a’year I had the definite pleasure of seeing not a few once proud consumer centers fade into oblivion, often with a lingering finale before the bulldozers administered the coup de grace.
Anyway, here’s a fun site with lots of interesting stories, pics, and links if you’re also into this sort of thing.
How morbid, and fascinating! I was happy, in a sad sort of way, to see that the old Salem Mall, near Dayton, Ohio, is included in this site. I used to go there with the family waaaay back in the 1970’s. (Which was way before I was born, of course.) But nothing lasts forever. Mid-way thru that decade trouble came in the form of the massive new Dayton Mall, and the old Salem Mall, which was my “first one,” started to slide into a long decline. (Imagine the piano music from a Ken Burns documentary floating over old video of bell-bottomed shoppers….) And, cut.
And another note to anyone who ever lived in Ohio; last week “Dr. Creep,” host to the Saturday afternoon Shock Theater of which I still have fond, and sometimes traumatized memories, passed away. He’s the one who introduced me to “Terror from the Year 5000” and “Night of the Blood Beast.” So I’m forever in his debt. Here’s to you Dr. Creep!
One of my fondest memories of a dying mall from my youth is “Los Arcos” mall in Scottsdale, AZ. It was once a thriving business center with an underground movie theater that was really cool. I still remember the final days when it was gasping its last breath and the stairs leading down to the theaters was long since boarded up with plywood…yet the stairs still existed. I loved to imagine what it was like down there, underground, in the darkened abandoned movie theaters….I assume everything useful was stripped away (seats, lights, etc), so basically it was probably a long dark hallway with doors leading off into these gigantic, empty, pitch black rooms that were once the theaters…Creeepy!!!!!! But I never got a chance to sneak down there. Damn. I still like to think about it though.
We have quite a few dead malls listed in my area of Pittsburgh, I was always sad to see them go. And I know about the experience with forgotten areas Dennis. Growing up as a kid there was an abandoned train station a bit from my home and I, my cousins and sister would explore it through a secret entrance. it was so cool to imagine that it was ours and ours alone to use.
This is Brian from Deadmalls.com.
Thanks for the mention, we appreciate it!
Sorry to see the mall I grew up going to (Cobb Center in Marietta, Georgia) had fallen, and that Cumberland Mall is in danger of failing. Right now, here in Albany, GA, I think the Albany Mall is in danger of failing. They keep raising their rates, and letting in lesser and lesser quality businesses. There’s a loss of businesses in the food court, and they’ve let kiosks overrun the whole mall. Sad, so sad…
@Brain:
Wow…hi! Love your site and like I said, I also love rundown, dying public malls/amusement parks, etc., but I never had the time/money/drive to go out and collect them on a website. I remember strolling through these cavernous, gigantic empty buildings that were still open to the public because maybe one store was still open in the whole place (probably waiting for their lease to run out or something)…it’s always really weird, it’s almost like you can still hear the voices from the past in a ghostly way. Anyway, kudos on the site and keep up the good work.