Cool pics. I visited an abandoned amusement park earlier this year... maybe I'll post the pics up. Hurray for urban exploration!
Please do! I don't think there are many of those aside from the shell of Santa's Village near Chicago, and the soon to be redeveloped Six Flags New Orleans. Chippewa Lake Park in Ohio I think was just bulldozed recently.
[This message has been edited by ShockWave (edited 09-25-2009).]
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01:01 PM
TXGOOD Member
Posts: 5410 From: Austin, Texas Registered: Feb 2006
Talk about a screwed up chain of events. I looked at a very detailed timeline of that mall and in recent years there has been so much backstabbing and corruption even from the city, that area hasn`t had a chance at being revitalized. They even sold one of the buildings to a third party, then proceeded to start to demolish it until a lucky drive-by by someone in office stopped it. And then they tried to sell the entire mall, land and everything to a developer, including the building already owned by someone else. Here is the link to the timeline. Interesting reading. Mike http://www.pawfilmworks.com/DSMHistory.html
^Yep, that was the Wards building that someone bought then afterward got sued by the State when they pushed all of the asbestos-filled interior decor into the Block A entrance. The mayor of Harvey actually was driving by when he spotted the illegal demolition going on. In the process, the Wards building that had been purchased was severely damaged and was later demolished.
Paw Filmworks (Paul M.) was working on a GREAT documentary about the place and a few years ago had a really good website. I met him on the January visit, but it seems afterward he and anything Dixie Square of his has vanished. That great timeline is all that is left.
[This message has been edited by ShockWave (edited 09-25-2009).]
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06:24 PM
LitebulbwithaFiero Member
Posts: 3380 From: LaSalle, Michigan Registered: Jun 2008
I played airsoft at an abandoned drive to theater. It had rusted out steel roof and you could remove cinder blocks from the wall by hand. It was a lot cleaner inside then that mall though
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08:20 PM
Sep 26th, 2009
css9450 Member
Posts: 5491 From: Glen Ellyn, Illinois, USA Registered: Nov 2002
My favorite part of the Dixie Square story was how the city of Harvey sold the Wards building to American Kitchen Delights, Inc., then later, while AKD was mired in their "difficulties" regarding the asbestos removal, the city sold the entire property (including Wards, again) to developer John Deenen. How the city terminated their sale to AKD in favor of Deenen isn't really understood. In essence, they sold the same property to two different parties.
Developer John Deenen also owns an abandoned aluminum extrusions factory in nearby Dolton, IL, which he proposed to turn into a giant water park, hotel and entertainment complex. Like Dixie Square, it sits abandoned and deteriorating. And in a remarkable coincidence, the demo work at that location damaged a big portion of the one building they wanted to save, just like what happened at Dixie Square.
Trying to hold off on the pics from the August visit until after the 6th so I don't lose Photobucket for a few days.
On July 20th there was another fire that broke out at the entrance to Block C, between JCPenney and Walgreens/Toys R Us, about a month afterward the roof over the Block C entrance collapsed. I am guessing the targets were the plywood walls built by the asbestos removal crews a few years ago as someone also torched another plywood wall set up near the center court. It doesn't look like that fire did any damage to the structure.
Here's some video from the August visit, this was the first time I used my new camcorder so alot of the footage is real shakey and I wasnt sure how it would handle the darker areas (the autofocus seems to go nuts in dark areas). The new collapse appears around 1:26, it had occurred within about two weeks before this visit.
[This message has been edited by ShockWave (edited 10-02-2009).]
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01:17 PM
PFF
System Bot
Gokart Mozart Member
Posts: 12143 From: Metro Detroit Registered: Mar 2003
On the March visit I almost walked into a mouthful of asbestos insulation hanging from the cieling while going up into the machinery room on the roof of Penneys. Alot of people wear a dust mask or a respirator when they explore smaller abandoned places, though I don't think I've seen anyone wearing any kind of protection from the asbestos inside Dixie Square.
[This message has been edited by ShockWave (edited 10-02-2009).]
This was a very quick visit as we had come from a car show and didn't want to leave the Fieros parked on the streets for too long; lots of people walked past the cars but they all left them alone. I think we spent 2-3 hours there compared to the 6 and 7 or so hour visits in the past, so we did not make it to Block A, City Life, or Jewel this time.
Collapse in the Block C Entrance caused by the July 20 fire
Penneys Court
Walgreens R' Us was mostly spared from the fire damage
Block D
Unknown Store next to Thom McAn
Musicland; with some 70s psychedelic wallpaper and red shag carpet still intact.
Turn*Style
Thom McAn. Ever since the sign vanished early this year the facade has been slowly warping.
Block D and the Bazaar court viewed from an entrance to TurnStyle
Concrete triangle that once supported the canvas tent for an art sale wrecked in the Blues Brothers
The plywood wall set up by the asbestos removal crews 3 years ago has been torched.
Blocks C/B, most of the Blues Brothers filming took place here
Just Pants
Burt's Shoes
Polk Bros. Record Store.
Penneys Court
New carnage inside Penneys. Several areas of the second floor that I actually had walked on back in March had fallen to the ground. Very lucky something did not happen on the last visit. Firefighters rushing through the building to fight the blaze next to Penneys in July also made a made a mess inside the store.
I went on the second floor of Penneys again and actually found the safe, and someone over at Blues Brothers Central had left a map of Dixie sitting next to the safe. Unfortunately it's too dark to take pictures in the office area so i didnt bring the camera up there.
This is it for now. I am hoping to go back for a long visit sometime this month; otherwise for sure next January.
This kind of stuff reminds me of the TV series "Life After People", which describes how man-made things would deteriorate if all people were to suddenly vanish.
I have only made a few return visits to the north side of Tulsa, where I grew up, but it shocks and saddens me more every time.
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08:25 AM
KurtAKX Member
Posts: 4008 From: West Bloomfield, MI Registered: Feb 2002
^Go check out http://www.trespassertv.com , lots of urban exploration videos there. Some of mine are on there as well.
Thanks everyone for the comments! Here's a couple of "rejects" that, after doing some work on them in Photoshop, I rather like. Most of these are from January; the last one from August.
Unfortunately this is most likely it for now unless I find some more "rejects" worth fixing, as the proposed trip for this past week or the week before never happened. I'm now pretty much busy with work until after the Holidays. Unless things change, next trip will be around January.
Asbestos is not the only thing to worry about, lots of dangling pipes, fallen wires, and hanging light fixtures to watch out for.
Fitting room in JCPenney, the vandals have pretty much cleaned it out
Mural painted on a window display wall in the Rorry's Womens Apparel store. I think in the Blues Brothers it may have been a toy store.
I think this was a pretzel shop.
Much of the graffiti inside the mall is religious-oriented.
"Home Fashion Center" -- JCPenney's home decor department. The walls, soffits, and light fixtures are in pretty good shape for being at the mercy of Chicago's climate the last 30 years.
And finally: New Life in a Dead Mall
[This message has been edited by ShockWave (edited 10-10-2009).]
Not much has changed in Penneys since my last visit in August.
"Shipping Damage" -- This was the package pickup area of Penneys
Seems like Penneys is really going for the "open-air" shopping experience.
Most of what you see here occurred this past year, and most of it after the winter time. By summer I'm sure more will collapse.
Shoe department
Walgreens pharmacy area which was not remodeled as Toys R Us for The Blues Brothers
Hell in a Cell
Dixie's life in a nutshell; Is it Fair? Will it Build Better?
Egg Foo Young... found in the back of Rorry's Womens Apparel
Rack
Restaurant of Beautiful Things
Sign (sled?) from Polk Brothers; a long-gone electronics and appliance retailer.
Careful with that Axe, Eugene -- One of the oddest finds of the day was a recently-placed axe in front of the now-collapsed Thom McAn storefront.
Steel Jungle
Ladies stockroom in Turnstyle. Above it is the office area, which has recently had the **** tagged out of it.
"Christ-Chair"
This little workshop is hidden above a hallway going from Block C to the service court. The floor creaked badly as I walked across it, and the stairs were held on by hinges.
"Night Bars, Guitars, Run-down Motels like Shacks" -- City Life Disco
The "Frozen Foods" sign in Jewel has now completely vanished. Jewel seems to have been hit by vandalism recently as some of the plywood covering up the windows has been knocked down, and the old customer service counter has been smashed up badly.
This is the damage caused by the fire last July. The collapse occurred about a month after the fire.
"Blowout Sales" -- Everything must go! Down to literally the bare walls!
I should now mention it was I believe under the 10-degree mark all day. The mall was completely iced over and we were sliding all over the place. Plenty of close calls but no falls.
[This message has been edited by ShockWave (edited 01-03-2010).]
Kind of forgot about this thread... Dixie was in the news awhile ago. In February the property was sold to a new group of developers who made claims of tearing the mall down in March. Surprise-surprise, it's still there as I type.
The property is now a major legal mess; Attorney general Lisa Madigan still has a pending lawsuit with John Deneen over the asbestos situation 5 years ago, and Windy City Construction (the contractor for Deneen's demolition work) is still looking for $1.3 million, or $845,000 for the "65 percent of the project completed" plus legal fees.
I can remember Valley Fair Mall when it was still current and busy. 4 years ago it was dying, with only 1/4 of the stores still open. I think the building is still there, but I expect it's permanently closed after 3 years now of the great recession. And don't the feds realize that making a place a fed offense to enter only makes everyone that much more interested in seeing every detail?
I happened to drive by a few years ago and not know it until a friend pointed it out. I imagined it looking just like it did when the filming was finished, not all falling down.
I find it fascinating that the city would stop a company from cleaning places like that up and just dumping all the asbestos in a landfill with everything else. How do you "properly" dispose of something like asbestos that has been blowing away in the wind and washing away into storm drains for 30 years ?
Do they really think the city is better off with the wind blowing it all over the place as opposed to it being buried and contained underground? Really, why would the EPA or anyone get in the way of a company that is willing to dispose of it and bury it for good. Talk about a serious class action suit against the city/EPA or whatever agency stopped the clean up years ago, for failing to clean up a "known" hazard.
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08:34 PM
Finally_Mine_86_GT Member
Posts: 4809 From: Hyde Park, New York Registered: Sep 2006
I can't afford to get arrested so i'm going to ask once it gets warmer, if i can get some shots of a local abandoned all girl college that they are about to tear down. Cross your fingers. I hope they are ok with it as my friend and i will sign liability waivers. Better to have a buddy system. it's in rough shape.
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09:20 PM
css9450 Member
Posts: 5491 From: Glen Ellyn, Illinois, USA Registered: Nov 2002
I find it fascinating that the city would stop a company from cleaning places like that up and just dumping all the asbestos in a landfill with everything else. How do you "properly" dispose of something like asbestos that has been blowing away in the wind and washing away into storm drains for 30 years ?
They probably figured if the asbestos was still inside the mall it was relatively safe there; mixed in with the pulpy remains of the fallen ceiling tiles, etc. Stirring up all that stuff and shoving it outside probably did more to scatter it to the wind than the 30 years of inactivity.
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11:44 PM
Dec 14th, 2011
Cheever3000 Member
Posts: 12400 From: The Man from Tallahassee Registered: Aug 2001
Wow those pics are beyond creepy! I hope you were wearing some sort of respirator the I would be extremely worried about the asbestos. I've always thought it would be amazing to visit Chernobyl and Pripyat, after playing the awesome mission in Call of Duty 4 that does a great job of recreating the site, even the ferris wheel and carnival.
Edit: There is a mall that is closing near me called the Woodville Mall. It's been open since the 70s and now it's being condemned while there are still businesses running in it. It hasn't had any heat in months, ceiling tiles are falling from the movie theater ceiling, the roof is leaking everywhere, and they is a very real possibility that the roof will collapse at the first big snow. It's really a shame it used to be a great mall I have a lot of good memories there. I want to go see it again before it closes but that might not be possible.
[This message has been edited by ThatFieroKid (edited 12-15-2011).]
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01:13 AM
css9450 Member
Posts: 5491 From: Glen Ellyn, Illinois, USA Registered: Nov 2002
Edit: There is a mall that is closing near me called the Woodville Mall. It's been open since the 70s and now it's being condemned while there are still businesses running in it. It hasn't had any heat in months, ceiling tiles are falling from the movie theater ceiling, the roof is leaking everywhere, and they is a very real possibility that the roof will collapse at the first big snow.
LOL I've been there a couple times, but its been 2 or 3 years. Is everything still painted pink and blue and green inside? Its a great look back at 1987-era "Miami Vice" fashion.
I seem to remember the carpeting was a tripping hazard; ripped up and wrinkled in many places.
