5/13/02

on may 13th 2002, my friends ian and john joned me to explore the dixie square mall. this time we went deeper into the mall than we had gone before. we walked around the central areas of the mall and saw virtually all the damage cause by age, weather, and vandals over the last 20 years. the roof is leaking everywhere, and has caved in on several areas. the mall is extremely dark, however some areas are well lit because of caved in roofing. most of the pictures you'll see below had to be brightened considerably. it had just rained a day or so ago, and we were walking in one to two inches of water in certain areas. we were also very excited when we made the discovery of tire tracks! we found them right in front of the toys r us and jewel area used in the blues brothers. in fact, "toys r us" was still painted on a wall, which can be clearly seen in the movie. finally, we ventured to the second floor of the abandoned jc penny! we found sections of it's ceiling caved in, and plant growth in the second floor of the building!

we didn't encounter any dogs, police, homeless, or gangs on this visit, but we were still very paranoid about them. while walking around the outside of the building, a woman saw our camera equipment and stopped us to ask if we were planning on devloping the property at all. we tried to explain that we were just taking pictures, but she practically started begging us for a job. this was another sad reminder of the economic condition the area is in...