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Dead and Dying Attractions

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S

Sanjuro

Member
Basically the idea here is businesses, attractions, and just random display of all things that are dying/dead/decaying in your area. I posted some of my pictures in another thread...I figured this could make for a good thread with input and possibly other photos from other GAF'ers in various locations. I think this could be a pretty awesome thread for all the nostalgic type or people interested in this. Growing up near a abandoned amusement park I guess I gained an interest in reading up more and learning about the history and such.


Today I went to the Rhode Island Mall in Warwick, Rhode Island. I went there as they have a store called the Toy Vault which was having a ten cent sale on comics that they sent in an email to me. I figured I would check it out. Not having been to that mall in several years now, I had no idea how much this mall has decayed. I have a poor cell phone currently so the picture quality isn't what I desired. Besides what I have taken there are pretty much more than a dozen closed stores in the mall AT LEAST!

2nhqcyw.jpg

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There is a Kohl's/Wal-Mart and Sears attached to the sides of the mall. Only the Sears has an entrance to the actual mall. The other two stores blocked off entry. That black looking store appeared to be a Suncoast Video. On the lower floor (which I didn't venture off too) there was the remains of a Gamestop which appears to have no closed too long ago. There were a few small food court places which would have baffled me if they were open at all. There was a Lenscrafters (Which picture did not turn out well) that was open still. I walked through the entire business and there was nobody there working. Apparently this mall was the first two-floor mall in New England. I found a site called deadmalls.com off of the Wikipedia entry as well and found a photo similar to one of mine.

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But yeah, I would love to see anything anyone has to contribute. I'm going to bookmark the site and hopefully some of you with something to post possibly could go out and collect some pictures to share.
 
P

Phobophile

A scientist and gentleman in the manner of Batman.
Oh man, the south suburbs of Chicago are fucking full of these types derelict relics of Cold War-era prosperity. Nowhere as affluent as they were 20 years ago, or longer if you're one of the south suburbs closer to Chicago city limits. What was once white flight turned into middle-class flight; everyone bailing out if they could afford it, regardless of race.
 
G

Gilby

Member
There's a ski hill on the same set of hills/mountains that I lived on growing up called Candy Mountain. It's only about 5 minutes from my place. My dad used to coach skiing there in the winters, and my sister and I grew up ski racing, we could ski as soon as we could walk. I would spend every weekend there with my dad, from sun up to sun down. I would play TMNT and Pacman in the little arcade, and at the end of the day we would hang out in the chalet with the other coaches and parents while they drank. That's where I had my first taste of beer.

Now look at it.

This is heartbreaking. This is where I grew up, I even remember my sister mentioning years ago that when she dies she wanted her ashes spread on top of that hill. It was THAT much a part of our life, and now it's gone. :'(
 
W

Why would you do that?

Member
I don't know of too many in NYC, but I think FAO Schwartz, a toy store that was famous for some reason, is going away, and Coney Island as it is now is definitely going away.
 
D

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
5 years ago we had a mall (Newton, IA) with a Hy-Vee (grocery chain) attached, 5 years later Hy-Vee bought the mall, demolished it, and built a bigger H-Vee :/
 
S

Sanjuro

Member
Lincoln Park in Dartmouth, Massachusetts is a deserted amusement park which still is around to this day for the most part. The park closed in 1987. Having never gone (or remembered going) most would expect me not to have any sort of attachment here. This park comes and jumps right into your sights when driving down Route 6. I have always seen it since I was a kid and sort of have grown up with it as it has gone from "Hey mom? How come they don't open it again?" to utter decay. The main roller coaster there "The Comet" is still mostly intact with several points where the wood has collapsed. There are several of the buildings still there as well as the shell of the carousel. When I was younger I would always have people telling me stories about the park of all sorts. I never have taken photos but I have ventured off at night and walked around the remains which is a rather creepy experience as there are a few lights still light up.

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Here is a great Youtube video of before and after. There is also a link to a site with various photos as well here.
 
A

Anticitizen One

Banned
Door2Dawn said:
40132672.backtothefuture.jpg


Why did they have to replace it with that crappy Men in black ride?! Why?!
Click to expand...

ummm Back to the Future wasnt replaced by Men In Black. Second of all the Men in Black ride is awsome.

Back to the future was replaced by The Simpsons simulator
 
L

Lazy vs Crazy

Member
Lincoln Park is super creepy after dark.

Also holy shit at the mall. Went there once like five years ago, the change is amazing. I guess Providence Place is slowly killing it.
 
H

Hootie

Member
Wow the Rhode Island Mall looks like shit now. I haven't been there in a few years so I had no idea how bad it'd gotten.
 
S

Sanjuro

Member
Lazy vs Crazy said:
Lincoln Park is super creepy after dark.

Also holy shit at the mall. Went there once like five years ago, the change is amazing. I guess Providence Place is slowly killing it.
Click to expand...
Providence Place isn't so much of a mall killer as it is more of a social thing being in that location as you still have all the people from that end of RI who would just go to Warwick.

Warwick Mall opened years ago pretty much right behind the Rhode Island Mall. Besides all that, Emerald Square and later Silver City Galleria were the king of the hill for a long time attracting people even away from the malls of my area...mainly the Swansea Mall. I grew up in Fall River, MA. Where we had the Harbor Mall which should be next on my radar. The inside there isn't close to as abysmal as RI Mall, but it has been pathetic since I can remember.
 
O

Outcast2004

Banned
Rolling Acres Mall in Akron is VERY similar to the OP.

Up until 10-12 years ago it was a thriving 2 story mall that had NO vacant stores.
BUT, all the Akron gangs started using that area to "play" and people stopped showing out of fear. Slowly but surely the whole area died.

Sahme, had one of the most badass arcades I've ever seen as well as a GREAT game store that sold US and imports up through the 32 bit era.

Now not only the mall, but all of the surrounding stores are long gone leaving just decaying buildings and a strip club. I do believe the only things left in the mall are a Sears and a JC Penney outlet

BrianUlrich05.jpg


rolling-acres-mall-22.jpg


rolling-acres-mall-02.jpg
 
D

Door2Dawn

Banned
Anticitizen One said:
ummm Back to the Future wasnt replaced by Men In Black. Second of all the Men in Black ride is awsome.

Back to the future was replaced by The Simpsons simulator
Click to expand...
It's all still shit.
 
T

Tedesco!

Member
Outcast2004 said:
Rolling Acres Mall in Akron is VERY similar to the OP.
Click to expand...

I remember that mall. I used to go there during college. It reminds me now of the old Forest Fair Mall in Cincinnati. The gangs pretty much ruined that too.
 
J

Jeff Albertson

Member
Anticitizen One said:
the american Disney parks have been going to hell in a hand basket for years now
Click to expand...

Does not compute.

They may not be at their peak but are far far far far from dead or dying, the only reason for them not thriving as much right now is the economic climate.

Note; I can only speak for WDW here thinking about it I've never been to DisneyLand
 
F

Face it Tiger..

Banned
In Toronto, we have the Ontario Place. it's a family amusement park,owned by the government and hasn't been much done since the early 90's. Everything is so faded.
 
S

Sanjuro

Member
I think mentioning Disney/Universal/outdated but fully operational places are missing the point of the thread. I mean not even close.
 
O

Outcast2004

Banned
Tedesco! said:
I remember that mall. I used to go there during college. It reminds me now of the old Forest Fair Mall in Cincinnati. The gangs pretty much ruined that too.
Click to expand...
It's amazing how quickly it went from "packed" to barren.

I would go there during my lunch breaks about 98-99 when I was working at Rolling acres Dodge and spent the whole time in the arcade.

To me, that was the most memorable place. It was HUGE. Picture a site the size of a department store FILLED with all the latest arcade releases (the BIG titles like Street Fighter and Tekken being on 40+ inch big screen monitors) and the older classics in the back.

Hell, I got my first taste of Marvel vs Capcom 2 there...... :(
 
D

demon

I don't mean to alarm you but you have dogs on your face
There was this mall on Roosevelt Rd near/in North Riverside in the Chicago area. I vaguely remember going there in the 80s/early 90s, as well as a Venture Store that I think was connected. I went there on my bike looking for something in the summer of 99, and it was such a weird experience - the entrances were cramped and had those revolving doors made of metal bars that you see in subway stations, with security guards checking people in. The inside seemed strangely barren with just a scattering of stores nobody would want to shop at. I remember seeing a surprising number of people at the entrance, though. I dunno, it's weird, seeing this place that was thriving with people back in my childhood in the 80s, just an empty ghost of its former self. It's depressing and kinda spooky, but there's also a really strange nostalgic allure.

Pretty sure this is it:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...oid=-W1i8jejxlQqRw7BcIWW1Q&cbp=12,194.66,,0,5

For all I know it's been totally restored since then.
 
S

Steriletom

Member
Tiger uppercut said:
In Toronto, we have the Ontario Place. it's a family amusement park,owned by the government and hasn't been much done since the early 90's. Everything is so faded.
Click to expand...

If you're listing Ontario Place then I don't think you get the point of this thread.

The park is neither dead nor dying.
 
R

radios shipping overview

Member
Several malls here (Salt Lake City area) went through or are going through something similar. Cottonwood Mall lost stores for years until it was announced that it would be remodeled, at which time all the stores had to leave. They knocked the building down, and then the development company went bankrupt. It's just a flat, empty lot now.

Crossroads Mall rotted in the same way for a while until it was demolished completely to make room for a new mixed-use complex in the middle of downtown SLC that won't be ready for several years.

And then there's Trolley Square, which is a really cool building that used to be a home garage for Salt Lake's cable-car system. It's been rotting for years, too, and things took a turn for the worse after a fatal murder/suicide shooting took place there a few years ago. I'd say a majority of the units in the building are now empty, whereas it was thriving a decade ago. They're trying to make it appeal to upscale customers, with a snobby stationery shop and an American Apparel store, but it seems like there's not much they can do.

Oh, and then there's the 49th Street Galleria. It's a HUGE complex that was a paradise for any kid of the late 80s and early 90s. It had a big arcade, go-karts, lazer tag (iirc), bowling, roller skating, etc. It looked like Disneyland inside, with faux cobblestone footpaths and fake trees. Eventually the thing went out of business after a name change, and then nobody could figure out what to do with it. For a while it was a big buffet complex, and then it was turned into a mall for petcare-related needs. But since the pet center shut down, the building's been empty. It's just too big for what amusement centers tend to be these days.

Pictures here: http://www.scribblevillage.com/?p=1208
 
L

LaneDS

Member
I love stuff like this. Mostly because it's terribly creepy to explore at night. Closest thing I've had the privilege to explore was an abandoned mental health facility in backwoods Connecticut (heard about it from other UConn students at the time, and decided that'd be a fun place to break into after playing Silent Hill 2 all day with a couple of my friends and one of their girlfriends... pretty terrifying). Certainly not an "attraction" by any stretch, but urban exploration of any dilapidated building is right up my alley.

Hoping to hear some suggestions of things near northern Virginia... that Lincoln Park sounds like it'd be an incredible place to trespass on.
 
M

Meadows

Banned
Hmm might takes some snaps of that old abandoned Bomb factory a couple of minutes from my house tomorrow. (The town I'm from was pretty much grown from various Nuclear UK government agencies basing their offices/factories here)
 
A

Alucrid

Banned
The local malls near me are complete shit, luckily I only live twenty minutes from the King of Prussia mall which is fantastic.
 
Z

Zapages

Member
My local Pathmark of 40 years is closing down in a couple of weeks... I've too many memories of me learning how to drive in the parking lot... It is definitely going to be sad to see it close down.

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Z

Zozz

Banned
wow that sucks, I rarely pop into the mall in my town but it always looks busy as fuck, yet all the stores are shitty as fuck. Good thing I have the Mall of America near me.
 
S

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
The entire Salton Sea is depressing as fuck. It was a roaring community in the 50s and 60s with great fishing and a ton of 'beach' communities that developed. Then the salinity kept rising, killed the fish, made it unswimmable and all of those communities just packed up and moved.
 
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