A dead mall
-UPDATE BELOW-
11 August 2024
(Source)
We did a lot of road tripping as a family during the late eighties and early nineties. As I mentioned before, one of our most traveled routings, especially during holiday periods, took us from Norfolk, Virginia to Huntsville, Alabama then to Orlando, Florida.
-UPDATE- 1- The original building under construction in 1960. 2 & 3- The original center. 4- Northgate Shopping Center from above in 1974. (Source for all)
While most of the hours were defined by endless stretches of greenery streaming by at 65 miles per hour, it was all worth it to pass through all of those medium and large cities punctuating the maps. And, on the southbound, one of the first we always passed was Durham, North Carolina.
-UPDATE- Northgate Mall lease plan ca. 1986. View the full PDF version here.
Unfortunately for me, though I’m sure my dad and his sense of urgency would argue, we never penetrated too far into the urban core as Interstate 85 merely skirted the northern edge of Durham. But there, at the interchange with US 501, was all I needed.
-UPDATE- Northgate Mall lease plan ca. 1996. View the full PDF version here.
It was a low slung, beige cinderblock monolith directly abutting the freeway to our south. And, for the first time I saw this strange new anchor store named Belk, with its B adorned in just the same way as the L in Leggett with which I was already familiar. This was Northgate, one of my very first road malls.
-UPDATE- 1- The Sears mall entrance. (Source) 2- Empty storefronts along the main corridor. (Source) 3- More shuttered stores. 4- A vacant kiosk. 5- Along the taped off food court. 6- The darkened food court. (Source for 3 to 6)
Northgate Mall opened as an open-air center in 1960 with Rose’s as the main anchor. It was expanded intermittently throughout the years until 1974 when, facing new competition in the form of South Square, the shopping plaza was enclosed and fully incorporated with anchors Sears and Thalhimer’s. In the nineties, the old Rose’s building was taken over by Hecht’s while Thalhimer’s became Hudson-Belk.
Northgate Mall Mallmanac ca. 2008. View the full PDF version here.
In the 2000s, with a substantial new adversary coming in the form of The Streets at Southpointe, the eastern portion of Northgate was de-malled (how often does a center get enclosed just to be made open-air again?) Today, the old Belk is now a cineplex while the Hecht’s has become Macy’s, but, like the Sears that’s still hanging on, Northgate seems to be holding its own.
-UPDATE- 1- A barricaded entrance not long after Northgate Mall’s closure. (Source) 2- A former entrance. (Source) 3- The Stadium 10 theaters. (Source) 4- One of the mall’s outdoor plazas. (Source) 5- The former mall’s exterior. (Source) 6- The now closed center from the air. (Source)
-UPDATE-
-11 August 2024
(Source)
Northgate Mall and the surrounding area saw an increase in crime and a decrease in revenue during the 2010s with stores slowly departing for newer competition. The second anchor to depart, Macy’s, announced their exit in 2017. The building was subsequently leased as office space. Sears, the last remaining original anchor, was shuttered in 2019. With the writing already on the wall, the Covid 19 pandemic pushed Northgate Mall to the great parking lot in the sky in 2020.
Northgate Mall pamphlet ca. 2018. View the full PDF version here.
Plans have been floated for a full redevelopment to more of a mixed use destination. Not long after its closing, plans were released showing luxury high rise accommodations in addition to retail and office space. These plans were shelved after push back from the surrounding community and proposals showcasing more affordable options have been brought forward. Nothing has been finalized and for now, Northgate Mall sits empty.
A rendering of one of the proposals for the site. (Source)
there is an interesting mall in Billings, MT that they build a street down the middle of it. I forget what it is called but I bet you can find it pretty easily. Interesting stuff...
ReplyDelete