Ogre Battle: Dixie Square Mall

This will be a big one. I'll post most of my pictures from this place here; I was there twice, on November 16, 2008 and again on January 11, 2009. The shots look pretty similar, since both times it was winter, the big difference being the January shots have some snow on the floors of the building. Many of these have not been posted on Flickr. The November 16 visit was made solo! I guess when you really want to see a place, all the "don't go alone" advise falls upon deaf ears.

I am aware that some people may kind of pooh-pooh Dixie Square, they claim its not "interesting" architecture, or its too decrepid nowadays, but that is OK with me. I think its fascinating. For one thing, the whole "dead mall" phenomenon is morbidly interesting to me. Here is this gigantic building, an institution designed as a place for people to gather, be entertained and contribute to commerce, lying in decay. When these institutions fail, there may have been a major change in area demographics, serious miscalculations of the retail needs of the area, competition from the newer and shinier malls, or perceived safety concerns among those who shop here. In the case of Dixie Square, all of those factors may have played a part in its downfall.

Secondly, the mall played a role in the "Blues Brothers" movie, released in 1980. The chase scene through the mall will forever be one of my favorites. Thanks to 30 years of abandonment and neglect, the mall is still wide open for all to come in and pick out the scenes from the movie. I suppose in a way we are lucky this mall was here in the Chicago area for their use in filming; it could have just as likely been in someplace like Paducah and would have escaped the attention of the movie crew.

Obviously, Dixie Square isn't the only "dead" mall, only the first of many. Cleveland's Randall Park Mall, briefly the largest enclosed mall in the world when it opened in 1976, is down to its last handfull (4 or 5?) stores and probably won't last very long after Sears leaves in two months. Northridge Mall in Milwaukee and Northtown Mall in Toledo have been closed and sealed up for several years. The St. Louis area had its own version of Dixie Square - River Roads Mall in suburban Jennings Missouri, which was torn down a couple years ago after being boarded up and deteriorating for over a decade. Like Dixie Square, it was the target of vandals and explorers with cameras. And perhaps most incredibly, Kansas City's Bannister Mall and the enormous Mall of Memphis were built and enjoyed a period of success before eventually failing and were closed and demolished, all within the 30-year period that Dixie Square has stood empty and abandoned.

Photos inside this building are plentiful on the internet. I've seen perhaps thousands of point and shoot type pics which are shot using the flash, and they depict a blown out foreground and an inky black background. Fortunately (well, for photographic purposes), as the roof deteriorates more and more light enters the building making better photography possible. Upon closer inspection, Dixie Square is a riot of color, from its 1976-era blue-painted facades to the colorful wallpapers in many of its empty stores. My favorite pictures from inside this place are the ones that showcase the light and color of it.

These photos are not grouped by date, but rather by locale. First are some exterior shots.

Some of the boardups featured murals, presumably painted by school kids during the mall's very brief use as a temporary grade school in 1981.

Inside the main part of the mall. Unfortunately, at the far east end some of the mall has been demolished, but what remains is all-original (well, original as per the 1976 remodeling) and is spectacularly deteriorated.

Inside the JC Penney store. Fortunately none of the demolition work touched this store, and it is surreal in its decrepidness. Part of the upper floor is collapsed.