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6 Uses For a Dead Mall (But Keep Movies in the Theater Where They Belong)
I'm sure the Romans—not to mention the Aztecs, Incas, and Mongols—were pretty damn pleased with themselves and figured what they were doing could never end. The Ottoman Empire ran longer than Cats, and all they left behind is a place to put your tired feet after a long day of trading pork bellies.
Over at GOOD, Andrew Price was recently contemplating the fate of what was once the hallmark of modern pop culture: abandoned movie theaters. After all, the act of attending a film showing with a few hundred of your closest friends appears to be going the way of Vaudeville and Burlesque.
The way I see it, while we're still living in the midst of industrial civilization, communal movie viewing is something we should encourage. It's got to better for us to get off our couches and meet friends at the multiplex. Prior to cable TV, VCRs, DVD players, the internets, and hand-held entertainment, going to the movies used to be just plain fun.
However, not all deserted structures are worthy of mourning.
From sea to shining sea, the land of the free is littered with dead malls. From 2007 to 2009, more than 400 of the largest 2,000 malls in the US shut their doors. "For some, the end is coming none too soon," writes Kimberly D. Mok. "As icons of excessive consumption and shortsighted urban planning, malls represent everything that has gone wrong with our car-based consumer culture. For others (especially in smaller towns), malls represent one of the last few sanctioned public spaces in our society where communities can gather."
Moral of this tale? I suggest we revive the movie theaters for their original function but find much more progressive uses for all those deserted malls...like maybe re-open them as "museums of the consumption age" or simply use them as roomy places to plan the looming eco-revolution.
A Few More Ways to Re-Purpose a Mall
-Create a Homeless Shelter: Here are a few suggestions on how to get licensed, find partners and a location, etc.
- Artists' Studios: Follow the lead of these art pioneers in Germany
-Community Center/Garden: These folks in Astoria, New York did something like this and so can you