undated: State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/9490 |
8/16/13
The Tallahassee Mall, with its active movie theatre and echoing hallways of empty retail, will go up for auction next week. Long after the Dillards department store left, that corner remains untouched, as if frozen in time.
This state archives photo from the 1990's shows a more active time. With over a million square feel, what can this property become?
When the Governor's Square Mall opened in the early 1980's, Tallahassee's 'other mall' began its slow decline, as did Northwood Mall before it. With the downsizing of state employees and the abundance of already vacant office spaces in this City, it seems unlikely this mall will become another giant office complex.
Several people I have talked with suggest a huge amusement park, complete with a Ferris wheel, leaving in place the AMC theatre. There was, at one time a miniature golf park in the back of the mall, so it would be like returning to its original roots.
On one of the busiest highways into the City from Interstate 10, its current state doesn't portray a prosperous or beautiful welcome. How would you transform this property?