I wish that I had lived in the area when the mall first opened to see how excited everyone was to go to this beautiful mall. From the time we moved here in 1994, it was already in trouble and it is a shame that no one stepped in sooner to try and turn things around. Many local residents encouraged local leaders to consider keeping the ice rink open for all the local sports groups who used it and to convert the rest of the mall space to an off-site college campus, vocational classes and government space that would have benefited alot of people. Time marches on and it's not always for the good of the people!

said debduncan26 2006.01.17 at 23:22:00 PST

Oh gosh, how sad. I lived in Memphis from 1981 to 1984, and my friends and I practically lived at this mall, when we weren't in class at Memphis State. I learned how to drive a stick shift on that ring road around the mall late one Saturday night. Memphis and the Mall of Memphis were my first "big city living" experiences - I grew up in the small town of Lexington some 100 miles to the east. <sigh> Reminds me of how old I'm getting. Thanks for posting these bittersweet photos.

said jaynieh2 2005.01.03 at 19:04:08 PST

I appreciate you documenting this sad event. I lived in Memphis between 1980 and 1989. I loved the place and enjoyed going to the Mall of Memphis to shop and just "people look". I still joke with my youngest daughter (now married with one child and one on the way) about wanting to go the the "Mall" and ride the "eskeeelator& quot; when she was little. I have fond memories of Christmas shopping there, watching the folks ice skate talking with he folks at the Tinder Box and Wolf Camera and Video. I did my part to keep these two in business with $1K of cameral equipment and $1k of pipes <lol>. I was not there to witness the total failing of the Mall but, from what I read and see it seems that the city let crime get out of hand in that area. It is a shame from a business and comunity pride standpoint to let something like that happen.

said billi239 2004.12.23 at 07:59:52 PST