Dying mall in Huntsville AL (Madison Square Mall) nearly abandoned!
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- Опубликовано: 15 окт 2024
- Visiting the sad state of the Madison Square Mall in Huntsville Alabama on Feb 14th, 2016. It's expected that this mall will be closed down by the end of the year.
UPDATE: It's been officially announced, the mall has officially been slated for redevelopment, as of late June there are less than a handful of operating stores, and the owners have since auctioned off most of the non bolted down contents of the mall to the public. I have tried to re-shoot this video showing the current state, but have been told to leave multiple times. Thanks everyone for the interest in this video, let it be a reminder of the mall it once was. There are a few videos filmed after mine here on youtube.
I worked at the mall for two years right after it opened. Always super busy and during the holidays there was hardly room to walk. Even after I left, I shopped there every week for years because it had three bookstores for the longest time (Waldenbooks, B Dalton, and Zondervan). Up until the past couple of years I did my regular walking there once or twice a week when the weather was too hot or cold or wet to walk outdoors. I watched it decline step by step. It just became too depressing. I never realized how many thousands of hours of my life - time spent with family and friends and co-workers and alone - that I spent at that mall in 32 years. This video and the music really touched me unexpectedly. I never thought I'd "grieve" for a public space like that. But I did. Thanks for recording and posting this.
I hear you. I moved here for one school year in 1987 and then back again in 1992 and have been here since. The hours spent with friends in high school and family, the lazy Sundays, all the time and the experiences that once filled those walls... it's like a mausoleum. It's changed since the mid-90s but the building, the shell is the same. An old friend gets put to rest. Music only amplifies that feeling.
i wish i could see it in those days, how exciting i bet it was. America was America then... not the way it is now.
Born and raised in The Rocket City. I was also born and raised in the mall. I remember every inch of Madison Square Mall, every store and every restaurant. It was the place to go for entertainment, the place to go to eat, the place to go to shop and if you were just bored everyone was like, "let's go to the mall". My buddy and I cut through Sherwood Park and rode our dirt bikes at the construction site when they were building it and I watched with a sad heart when they were tearing it down. Tons and tons of memories.
Thanks for sharing your memories
The music matches perfectly with the mood of the mall. I don't know why, but I am fascinated with many of the 'dying' mall videos online. So much potential, just slowly fading away. Thanks for posting.
I went to this mall countless times, from my early childhood through my early 20s. I also worked at the American Eagle Outfitters store shown at the end of this video back in late 2006 through early 2007; that was actually my first job. It's even more surreal now knowing that the mall is completely demolished and nothing seen in this video exists anymore.
When Bridge Street came along, everyone seemed to abandon this mall.
I know. Also, crime and online shopping got rid of it.
@@brianmears3388 And now Huntsville doesn't have a Sears store anymore
MSM killed The Mall on the PKY and University!
Used to hang out at the mall on Fridays back in the 80s. It was so alive back then.
i was there when it opened .i was 14. 6 years later i worked maintanence . i became a security guard later at 22.this mall was my life then. its gone and i cant believe it . just like the holiday inn / hilton. depressing. i sure do miss the days when i was there working. time flies
Was here on opening day. The upstairs floor was shaking, it was more shoulder to shoulder than the Aerosmith concert. Bought our wedding rings at Reeds. To every thing there is a season but it’s still shocking to see like this.
Cant belive its been 7 whole years.. almost a decade i still loved this mall till this day.
I remember getting Chinese food at the Food Court there and no other places to eat were around any more. Creepy and very sad. Thanks for posting 🙂
Perfect video. Excellent tone and vibe for what it is. Thank you for posting this.
thanks, if you're local you've probably seen demolition has started.
I wish a million times they would bring back this mall what an absolute loss to this area.
I visited this mall back in the fall of 1991 when I was in AIT at Redstone for 55B10. It was vibrant and still alive back then.
It's not about online business and high taxes. It's about debt and
offshoring of manufacturing jobs--the heart of American prosperity, as
such. Consumer spending was, since the end of WWII, the lynchpin of
American wealth. But the jobs were offshored, or otherwise done away
with. These kinds of retail jobs were supposed to 'replace' the
(relatively) high-paying manufacturing jobs. But now, the retail sector
itself is being decimated. The economic core of the nation is dead,
but the rot just hasn't shown up everywhere--yet. Government, captured by the financial sector, caused this catastrophe.
I remember going to this mall every Saturday with my grandma during the summer. I recognize all of the empty rooms where my favorite stores used to be. Parkway and bridge street have excelled leaving Madison square sadly behind. It's such a shame that it's going to be torn down, but at least the movie theater will stand.
All that memories when I was a little kid :(😭😭😞😞😭😩😭😟😞😭
They eventually tore it down, which was kinda necessary. All the stores either moved to bridgestreet or parkway place which is still going strong I believe. Theyre now constructing a huge mixed used development with restaurants, bars, condos, a gym, top golf, and work spaces which will bring more of an economic growth back to that side of town. It’s sad to see the mall die but overall the city is making an effort to replace it with something that’ll hopefully be beneficial
So darn depressing. When this mall first opened it was a HUGE deal. People would travel from Tennessee, Mississippi and Georgia to shop. On opening day you couldn’t find a parking spot and it was so crowded you could barely walk. I was working there at the time and worked at the mall until 1990. Back then, if you were able to land a job at the mall it was a huge deal. Madison Square was more than a mall. It was a social hub. A teen hangout. A place to meet and greet. A great place for date night. It had a vibe. A soul. There will never be anything like the mall days ever again. And it’s sad.
The nostalgia and memories. Goodbye, old friend.
wow been here thousands of times with my family every sunday. soo many memories!! sad to see it go....
So sad to see the place go away. I have so many happy memories of it. In my mind this place is still there and always will be.
This is it, this is the proof! The American malls are dying!
They will all be a thing of the past soon
I live in Huntsville though, and we have another mall, Parkway Place, that's still pretty full of life. So I don't know that every mall is dying just yet. Maybe one day though :(
CherryFrog321 I live in Huntsville too
Some malls still do very well now days though it is all about location, location, location
There are 2 malls close to where I work, University Place and Provo Towne Center, University is right off of two busy roads, housing, and shares a parking lot with Costco they lost an anchor recently (Sports Authority) but it doesn't appear to be hurting business and they are always renovating something so it stays super nice. Provo Towne hasn't been renovated since the 90's but it is right off the freeway and has a giant Cinemark theater attached to it, it still has all its anchors the last time I was there. Sears, JCPenney, and Dillards.
AH MY MEMORIES NOOOOO
Taylor's grand adventures is my favorite channel. He makes similar videos to yours. I love your channel too.i grew up in huntsville. We came to this mall all the time and wouldn't eat in the food court and go to time out to play games. Miss this places so much. Lots of great memories.
This mall had a fair amount of foot traffic for a dead mall. By the looks of that sign it was probably the high taxes that were killing the businesses. They can't compete with online retailers who not only don't have to pay rent but also don't pay taxes either. The legal system and the tax code just have not kept up with the times.
Novusod I said dying mall not dead, in this video it was still active and had anchor stores, it's now shut down and being demolished
RevToTheRedline I'm making a Madison square mall movie so can I use your video?
I used to go that mall the last time I was there it was about emply. I also heard the new owners plan to knock it down
I remember when I was a little kid back in 2005 coming here wonder why nobody visits anymore
2 additional malls were built in HSV, 1 only a few miles away. The other near the Huntsville Hospital
A lot of great memories there as a teenager. In the early nineties we always started out at Ruby Tuesday’s. Weird watching this
Stopped by this mall today. Even fewer stores in it now, and the food court is closed off entirely.
Ya, the official announcement of it going to be shut down soon and leveled was announced last saturday, and auctioning of mall items went on 10-2 on saturday. I tried to re-film it, but the news was there and they had upped mall security and they told me to get out for filming, not worth my time to return, its all just memories now.
RevToTheRedline I had the same thing happen to me as well. I went back today and was able to get a video shot there.
I used to go here all the time when I first moved to Huntsville however I haven't gone in late 2010. I've been wanting to go for one last visit before it closes down for good. Hopefully the company that bought the property will use it for good use.
What was going on when you were asked to leave? Was it still open or had demolition started?
They were having an auction of some of the malls interior fixtures and decor.
@@Kaspurr84 Also, I'm not sure how useful they would be, but they do show a progression, but for several weeks during demolition I recorded a video one morning each week just driving around the perimeter to get a progressive view of what changes were happening. One of these days I'll try to get them online.
they are making some other shopping center there like bridge street but inside if u even know what bridge street is. basically shopping centers, also heard there would be more but who knows.
I've been to this mall almost a thousand times with my grandmother
I moved to Huntsville in 1984...I actually have some great memories of this place 1984-1995...it makes me sad.
its truly crazy how fast they were to make it like the small never existed, in its place a Top Golf and some dirt.
Really? I thought they built a baseball field?
I was thinking of going to take photos with my phone. But not so much anymore, were they rude when they kicked you out or just politely asked you to leave?
They just told me I couldn't film here and 2 guys walked me out, as they knew I wasn't there to shop
Was one of them some stupid fucking Brit?
Can I use this video if you don’t mind
i hate seeing these behemoth malls all across America closing... so many memories made there. it's depressing... Amazon loves it... i rarely buy from amazon and support brick and mortar stores as much ad possible. places like this decline... we as people decline slowly... it's tragic
Wow, it looks like a nice mall
my dad heard that some gangs started messing around in the stores witch hurt the businesses and drove away the customers 😕
What? It's closing at the end of this year? Where do you hear that at?
just talk on the street, based on the domino effect of stores closing one by one.
Rev, what song do you use in this video? It's great.
+Spacialvekter it was actually one of the free license RUclips offered songs. I'll look through and see if I remember what one. I hate messing with copyrights with music so all my videos that feature music are ones supplied through the RUclips library
Did you find what song it was?
ruclips.net/user/audiolibrarymusic
I am a Man who will Fight For your honor by Chris Zabriskie, its 11:26 length under ambient/sad category
I wonder if this is the exact same model that I was at when I was stationed in Redstone Arsenal Alabama.
Did you mean to say same mall? if so its very likely, the exit to get into Redstone is on the other end of the road that mall used to be located.
@@Kaspurr84 Yes. I mean mall. Lol
This mall died because it was of the people that took it over...… A new mall was put up and it will soon be replaced.
I like the post-rock ballad
I loved Madison Mall and when I moved here in 2013 is was alive and well. Bridge Street mall was built and I hate it. I do not like open malls. You can’t go shopping in the rain or when it’s cold. The developers did not do anything they projected they would do with the area. Everyone misses Madison Mall. These open malls are for the birds. You can have Bridge Street and the prices are higher at Bridge Street than they are at Parkway Mall.
So sad.
Me and my family went here lots of times my mom loved Sears so sad to see it go we went on the last day of it before it got destroyed
Aw man this place was great. Too bad it’s almost gone
The mall has been reduced greatly since this video, to the point where only 2-3 shops remain. The food court is completely blocked off and the only anchor store left, Sears, has their shutters closed to the mall side.
I moved to Huntsville about 3 years ago, and the mall's been in the process of dying for much longer than that. Most of the restaurants were already gone, barely any shops even managed to operate on a regular basis and the only real redeeming factor was the FYE, Hot Topic, and Game Galaxy arcade. Those are all gone.
The city is planning on demolishing the property once Sears closes and using it as an expansion for the Research Park business district.
E: Actually, I'm a bit behind on this one, looks like the city's turning it into a mixed-use/hotel/retail area. www.al.com/business/index.ssf/2016/05/future_of_madison_square_mall_1.html
Wait, JCPenny closed?!?!
Apparently not. My bad.
I tried re-filming but they kicked me out. The place is done. Only 2 stores apart from the anchors left
+RevToTheRedline Wow. I knew the owners are currently have a huge sale of eveything inside on Craigslist. I was hoping the mall would last at least to it's 32nd annivesary, but sadly not.
death of retail in USA and that mall kept in excellent shape until they demolished it sad
I hung out there every weekend in the 80's
sad days of retail USA the end of rainbow will not be a happy one
Demolition started a while back