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[radios shipping overview]

I'd never heard the term power center before this thread, but having looked it up, I know what it refers to: some of the worst examples of suburban big-box blight. Somebody keeps building these things that are only accessible by car, despite the writing on the wall with regard to past and potential future high gas prices.

 

[GoutPatrol]

There is a dead mall in my town, called the Wayne Hills Mall. It is kinda shaped like a T. It started dying around 15 years ago, when the big electronics store died on one side, and then things just slowly started dying, or moving to the other side of the mall and then moving out. I remember seeing things die out: the Italian restaurant, the arcade, the women's clothing shop, a Sam Goodys, the camera store, the art gallery, the ice cream shop, the Lenscrafters, the card store, the bookstore, the multiple jewelery stores, the island stores, the Footlocker and Champs Sports, a pizza place coming in and dying within the year, the hair salon...the bank just moved out a few months ago. I think the only things left are the Burlington Coat Factory anchor, a Quiznos, and I think the GNC. Really depressing.

 

[djtiesto]

This is a video of some dude walking around the parking lot on the last day of one of my favorite places to hang out as a teenager - Sports Plus in Lake Grove, NY. Used to have an ice skating rink, arcade, rock-climbing, bowling, lasertron, pool tables, a restaurant, etc. The place gradually went to shit, the arcades slowly breaking without any sort of maintenance, lights in need of replacement, until it finally closed. Now it's been totally bulldozed and turned into an LA Fitness and soon a Whole Foods.

http://revver.com/video/813832/the-end-of-sports-plus/

 

[dreamcastmaster]

I'd never heard the term power center before this thread, but having looked it up, I know what it refers to: some of the worst examples of suburban big-box blight. Somebody keeps building these things that are only accessible by car, despite the writing on the wall with regard to past and potential future high gas prices.

Becuase the land is cheaper on out of town sites.

 

[dark10x]

I've been a fan of the whole "urban decay" thing for a long, long time. I'm not sure if my love for it helped feed my love for Silent Hill, if my love for Silent Hill helped feed my love for urban decay, or if they benefited equally.

more text...

Wow, my exact thoughts. I have the same fascination. I've always loved Urban Exploration, but old shopping facilities have always captivated me the most.

I've always wanted to do an Urban Exploration trip around the US, actually. Some old malls, amusement parks, and factories would be perfect.

 

[reggieandTFE]

replaced timekeeper with some really lame monsters inc. show.

This is so wrong. The Monsters Inc. show was by far the best new exhibit at the parks on my most recent visit. The technology behind it is impressive and the jokes are actually incredibly funny.

 

[yankeeforever2]

This is a video of some dude walking around the parking lot on the last day of one of my favorite places to hang out as a teenager - Sports Plus in Lake Grove, NY. Used to have an ice skating rink, arcade, rock-climbing, bowling, lasertron, pool tables, a restaurant, etc. The place gradually went to shit, the arcades slowly breaking without any sort of maintenance, lights in need of replacement, until it finally closed. Now it's been totally bulldozed and turned into an LA Fitness and soon a Whole Foods.

http://revver.com/video/813832/the-end-of-sports-plus/

OMG, so many childhood memory, laser tag, ice skating, fucking the birthday party pass that gave you unlimited access to all the rides, my sister had her county bowling tournaments at the bowling alley there for the day for 5 straight years and all I would do is just raping games to get tickets for pointless shit those days. Then I'm in the area something last year and I see a LA Fitness in that spot and a part of me died.

edit: Haven't been there since probably 2003, but my god the video makes that place so depressing.

 

[Particle Physicist]

malls have been dying for some time. it's all about power centers now.

i love abandoned stuff though. i remember reading about some sort of hobbit like home a few guys found in the middle of no where. was interesting.

what are power centers?

 

[Dark Octave]

Man, I'd love to see before and after pics of the Dixie Square mall (I can only find after). I get obsessed over before and after pics of structures and locations. Doesn't matter if they are still in use or abandoned (though abandoned buildings give an emotion of both creepy and sad).

There is a book about my city that shows pics from over 100 years ago and how the area has changed since then. Amazing stuff.

 

[TheSeks]

what are power centers?

Quoth the Wikipedia, nevermore.

 

[msdstc]

This thread is awesome. I hate seeing stuff like this happen near me.

There was an old arcade here in one of the local malls. On Fridays we'd all head down and hang out in the arcade, go to the stores, see a movie, and end up in the food court. As the years went on the arcade changed owners, the machines started breaking down, the place became a dump. They replaced it with a steve and barrys which is now empty and out of business. That entire mall is well on it's way to closing, you can go on a weekend, and it doesn't even match the weekday of a few years ago.

 

[painey]

I would love to just go to these places and clean them up, with or without permission. Would be so fun to see it transformed and clean again.

 

[Monroeski]

:lol at all the people mentioning that the only thing still running in dilapidated malls is Sears.

The only Sears I can think of around here are in really run down places, as well. I really don't know how that company stays in business. As much as I used to hate on Circuit City, Sears is worse.

 

[Phobophile]

Really I live in the South Brubs and other then a couple areas everything seems pretty ok as far as middle class goes.

Though its getting a bit worse in some areas.

Are you in the SW burbs like Orland, Tinley, Frankfort, Mokena, etc? I'm talking about the due south ones, east of I-57.

 

[Phobophile]

:lol at all the people mentioning that the only thing still running in dilapidated malls is Sears.

The only Sears I can think of around here are in really run down places, as well. I really don't know how that company stays in business. As much as I used to hate on Circuit City, Sears is worse.

Well it barely sorta is. They filed for bankruptcy and fucking K-mart bought them out.

 

[riskVSreward]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Side_Railroad_Tunnel

They welded the doors shut after the epic party of 1993. A few people from my class cut through the doors and threw a new party in '01 or '02, not sure which. It was awesome, they had tiki torches lighting the whole tunnel and set off fireworks within it. There was a burnt/destroyed cop car still parked halfway in from 93. The reason we didn't get busted is because it was organized on the same day as some huge Portuguese festival. While most of Providence was enjoying cultural music and food, beneath their feet a bunch of teens were having a killer rave. The best party I've ever been to, maybe I can find the video of it to share.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narragansett_Brewing_Company

The brewery was closed down for a long time when a few of us broke in in '02 to film a school video. You had to climb in this small broken window and follow these tiny winding paths to finally get to the bulk of the interior. It ended up being a great setting for the film and another secret party location.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Point_Amusement_Park

Rocky Point was a well known park in RI, closed when they went bankrupt and became a grafitti filled teen haunt. I never attended any postmortem parties here as it's too damn far from where I live. (Yeah, it may be the smallest state but it still takes a few hours to cover all of the land.)

 

[Leunam]

For those with interest in urban decay:

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/saiga/yuji/gallary/gunsu/g-text-e.html Japans Battleship Island
http://www.opacity.us/ Collection of different locations.
http://weburbanist.com/category/abandonments/ Broader website, but there are some urban decay galleries in here.

 

[yuna55]

Apparently the St Louis Galleria mall is closing, I should probably go there at least once before I move to New York

Huh? Where/when did you hear that?

Yea, I don't think so, man. They're remodeling it, and it's ridiculously busy. Far from the dead & dying malls in the metro area (St Louis Centre, Crestwood Plaza, Northwest Plaza, etc).

 

[siddx]

When I was in Rhode Island a few months ago I tried to go to that mall in the OP but was told that I might as well shop at a strip mall. Now I see why.

When I was living in Nepal, they had attempted to build a american styled mall. However there were maybe at most, 2 or 3 stores inside. It was located off the road, back behind some buildings and it was mostly underground so you couldn't really see it. The only reason I found it was because an ice cream and pizza place called fire and ice opened right near it.
It was extremely creepy. Escalators didn't work, no lighting, stores either abandoned or never occupied. You'd see a random person out of the corner of your eye in the shadows. Would have been a great place for a horror movies. I still wonder if they ever managed to turn that place around (this was in the mid early to mid 90's).

 

[ChunderMan]

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

I visited that mall quite frequently as a kid. I loved the Orange Julias/Caramel Corn store 'cause it smelled so good. And the fountain was really nice. It's a shame what happened to it. I've heard that since the mall's closing, a lot of its patrons have moved over to nearby Chapel Hill Mall, which might send it down the same ten-year death spiral as Rolling Acres.

 

[out0v0rder]

This thread is awesome. I hate seeing stuff like this happen near me.

There was an old arcade here in one of the local malls. On Fridays we'd all head down and hang out in the arcade, go to the stores, see a movie, and end up in the food court. As the years went on the arcade changed owner ship, the machines started breaking down, the place became a dump. They replaced it with a steve and barrys which is now empty and out of business. That entire mall is well on it's way to closing, you can go on a weekend, and it doesn't even match the weekday of a few years ago.

is this in socal?

 

[HylianTom]

I'd never heard the term power center before this thread, but having looked it up, I know what it refers to: some of the worst examples of suburban big-box blight. Somebody keeps building these things that are only accessible by car, despite the writing on the wall with regard to past and potential future high gas prices.

Kunstler, is that you?

 

[mikeybwright]

I'm on my netbook so I can't post pictures right now, but a few friends and I broke into Tiger Stadium (in Detroit) before it was taken down a little while ago. For those who are into checking out 'dead' buildings ya might wanna check out some stadiums/arenas or whatever. It might be a little riskier (from a legal standpoint) but to walk into a place with so much history (and to run the fucking bases, ok no actual bases but you get the point) was awe inspiring.

 

[PumpkinPie]

Looking at places like this is intriguing, Lincoln Park is really sad though. Where I live we have one of the biggest shopping centres in the world (the biggest in Europe) so it's hard to imagine desolate places like this.

 

[vulva]

Taken from the night we snuck/broke in to Maple Leaf Gardens

Also another one from a night at King Edward Hotel's abandeoned ballroom

 

[Sanjuro]

More awesomeness. I need to get a decent camera though. I prefer having my cell phone to have one so I'm not lugging around multiple things as I'm not a shutterbug...but what is a good average megapixel should my camera have?

 

[Face it Tiger..]

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.

technically no, but the amount of traffic going to there is now where near the amount of people who went there in the early 90's.

 

[Jugendstil]

There was a mall in Deerfield, Illinois that was anchored by a Best Buy at one end and a Bed, Bath & Beyond at the other. It had obviously been built in the late 70s or early 80s; there was a horrendously ugly fountain and sculpture in the center that I never actually saw turned on. Even 15 years ago, the closer you got to the center of the mall, the more lifeless it was. I haven't been back there in years, but if you ever had to use the restroom you had to go into the center of the mall and then down a really long dark hallway to get to it. Going through an completely empty mall late at night, passing all the gated storefronts, was super creepy. It was easy to imagine being chased by Michael Myers or something - the 80's architecture totally made me think of Nightmare on Elm Street or Halloween.

 

[way more]

These are from the Northhampton State Hospital which was abandoned in 1992 . State Hospital was the name for insane asylums. My Grandpa served as Superintendent at Northhampton.

Glory Days

My father grew up in this house which was on the property.

Not only did he have all the friends he could ever want he had a bowling ally!



Links
http://www.opacity.us/site13_northampton_state_hospital.htm

 

[PumpkinPie]

Found these pics of an old amusement place not too far from where I live, it's the Spanish City at Whitley Bay. Built in 1910, it used to be a very popular place back in the day...I went a couple of times over 15 years ago and it wasn't too bad then.

 

[Cindres]

*creepy ass-insane asylum

Now going in there would be fucking scary.

 

[Amir0x]

I wish I had pictures of it, but Nellie Bly Amusement Park in Brooklyn was getting bad back when I was a kid, and it was well over a decade since I last went. I won a goldfish as a prize from there and it died as soon as I got it home. It had nasty looking fun houses with cracked clowns with paint and plaster chips in the tunnels. Rust on the metal bars. Nasty.

Last I heard somebody purchased it in 2006 and was trying to rehabilitate it, but I'm not sure of their success.

 

[radios shipping overview]

It's well-known that Coney Island has been rotting for decades, but it's breathtaking to see what it was once like:







Edit: rehosted images

 

[bigGIRLSblouse]

Great thread.. such an interesting subject. Anyone into that discovery (?) series about life after humans?

 

[PumpkinPie]

These are from the Northhampton State Hospital which was abandoned in 1992 . State Hospital was the name for insane asylums. My Grandpa served as Superintendent at Northhampton.

Fuuuck, that looks like Silent Hill!

 

[DJ_Tet]

Wow, thanks for posting those Coney Island pics. I made my first visit there last year as we went to Old Yankee Stadium for the second-to-last game there. Coney Island sure didn't look like that anymore :lol

 

[desertdroog]

One of the saddest days in my memory was when The Harkins Cine Capri was demolished and made way for an expensive business high rise, used to be leased by Cisco Systems, not sure who is in the area now.

http://www.cinecapritheater.com/

It was built in the 60s and evoked the mid century Modern architecture that is prevalent in the Allied and Haver homes in the Phoenix metro area. I have seen the Star Wars movies, three times (due to re-releases prior to the Lucas prequel fervor), Fantasia (once when I was 5 and again when I was 16), Adams Family, Nightmare Before Christmas, various documentaries and plenty of other movies that warranted the largest screen in town to view a showing of the latest Hollywood offered.

It was overshadowed by digital processing, DTS sound, etc... it was just old tech that needed an upgrade, but sat on some of the most expensive real estate in town. They have since rebuilt it on the Scottsdale/Phoenix border, to keep taxes cheap by technically being in Phoenix city limits, though it really is for North Scottsdale and surrounding suburbs. It doesn't have the nifty mid century modern look, as it is part of a multiplex in a outside mall, but the screen is larger and unless I am going to one of the three Imax's in town, it is still the place to be for premier action flicks, horror, and sci-fi.
http://www.harkinstheatres.com/CineCapri.aspx

The last movie that played at the original location was Titanic. Because it was the last movie shown there, I went to give Cine Capri my goodbyes, even though I never would have caught Titanic elsewhere. I attribute the numbers of that movie in my town to the closing of the Cine Capri as every night was a sold out night for nostalgia hopefuls.

 

[Cyport]

I love looking at these sort of things, one place I went to was American Adventure in the UK, it was a great theme park but overshadowed by the success of Drayton Manor and Alton Towers nearby. Heres pics of after it closed, makes me sad

pics from this forum http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=4504

 

[Cyport]

edit: repost, problem with upload!

 

[Cyport]

edit: repost, problem with upload!

 

[DJ_Tet]

It's well-known that Coney Island has been rotting for decades, but it's breathtaking to see what it was once like:

It's amazing to think that that is what this once looked like:

That's one of the pics I took at Coney Island last year. I was impressed just from the whole history of it but it definitely was a bit of a dump. Those guard dogs guarding the abandoned rides were pretty damn scary too.

 

[Leonsito]

These are from the Northhampton State Hospital which was abandoned in 1992 . State Hospital was the name for insane asylums. My Grandpa served as Superintendent at Northhampton.

Glory Days

My father grew up in this house which was on the property.

Not only did he have all the friends he could ever want he had a bowling ally!



Links
http://www.opacity.us/site13_northampton_state_hospital.htm

Very similar to the Danvers State Hospital, the one from the movie "Session 9", it's in the same page:

http://www.opacity.us/site22_danvers_state_hospital.htm

That building was amazing, and now is this shit:

http://www.avaloncommunities.com/avaloncore/nfloor.asp?comm=306



I love abandoned places, anyone have links for that abandoned island in Japan? I can't remember the name right now...

 

[TheKingsCrown]

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!

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.

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.

The store was originally an Electronics Boutique. I know because I worked there 8 years ago. That mall was dead even then.

 

[radios shipping overview]

archive.org still has a some of Kevin Gifford's old Japandonland translations archived:

http://web.archive.org/web/20060427024140/http://www.video-fenky.com/features/jdon/index.shtml

Lots of images are broken, but some of the original Japanese sites are still up:

http://www2.ttcn.ne.jp/~hexplorer/
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/usiro/

Some real Fatal Frame/Silent Hill/Siren-looking stuff in there.

 

[riskVSreward]

The store was originally an Electronics Boutique. I know because I worked there 8 years ago. That mall was dead even then.

Warwick Mall killed it up real quick.

 

[Sanjuro]

Warwick Mall killed it up real quick.

I was baffled that was still there for so long myself. I just assumed that they hoped people ventured far enough out in Sears. The Toy Vault is a pretty awesome store...but I don't understand how they manage to stay there. I would just assume that the rent is almost non-existent as they have another store which is quite similar/better in the Emerald Square.

 

[Formless]

These places would be pretty cool to paintball in

 

[riskVSreward]

I was baffled that was still there for so long myself. I just assumed that they hoped people ventured far enough out in Sears. The Toy Vault is a pretty awesome store...but I don't understand how they manage to stay there. I would just assume that the rent is almost non-existent as they have another store which is quite similar/better in the Emerald Square.

You bring up an interesting point, the rent there must be as dirt cheap as they come. It's not a bad location, you just won't get any typical mall foot traffic. It would be a good place for a first time owner to open a store as long as you properly advertise.

 

[ggnoobIGN]

 

[Sanjuro]

You bring up an interesting point, the rent there must be as dirt cheap as they come. It's not a bad location, you just won't get any typical mall foot traffic. It would be a good place for a first time owner to open a store as long as you properly advertise.

People that are going there for a reason. I went for the ten cent comics. Maybe people curious what the fuck is in there as they stare blankly at the wall at Wal-Mart/Kohl's. (I can't BELIEVE they didn't put a door facing the mall. That is like the ultimate insult.

My old dead store.