Metrocenter photos

Prior to its closing next week, I thought I'd make one final trip to Metrocenter to see it before the lights turn off for good June 30. I grew up close to this mall and visited it more than I probably care to admit in the 1990s. I wrote an appreciation essay on Metrocenter earlier this week, which I invite you to read first before viewing the photos.

One of the main entrances to the mall building

Current and former retailers

<img alt="A large mid-century style brick building with a prominent entrance featuring tall columns. The structure appears to be a commercial or institutional building with the number \"8700\" visible on the left side. Several cars are parked in a large parking lot in front. Palm trees and other landscaping surround the building. The sky is clear blue." height="1333" src="https://assets.edwardjensen.net/media/MetrocenterClosingWeb-6410.jpg" width="2000" />

I never appreciated it until now, but the former Robinson's / Macy's store (now a U-Haul?) has a definite New Formalism aesthetic to it.

A detached Walmart replaced the former Broadway in 2016-2017

<img alt="Large beige commercial building with "METRO SELF STORAGE COMING FALL 2019" signage in green letters. The building has a parking lot with several vehicles, desert landscaping with small trees, and a light pole. Clear blue sky background." height="1333" src="https://assets.edwardjensen.net/media/MetrocenterClosingWeb-6419.jpg" width="2000" />

The former JCPenney (and before that, Dillard's, Joske's, and Rhodes) is now a self-storage. Note the symmetry of the building (the black glass is/was an elevator)

<img alt="Modern shopping mall exterior with blue facade featuring \"METROCENTER\" signage, palm trees flanking the entrance, and decorative bollards in the foreground." height="1333" src="https://assets.edwardjensen.net/media/MetrocenterClosingWeb-6427.jpg" width="2000" />

Another mall entrance

Sears (closed 2018)

From the north, the Sears was a box on top of a plinth

<img alt="Glass storefront doors with a yellow sign that reads \"THIS STORE IS NOW CLOSED\". A turquoise bus is reflected in the glass." height="1333" src="https://assets.edwardjensen.net/media/MetrocenterClosingWeb-6431.jpg" width="2000" />

If you didn't know already

<img alt="A glass door or window with a blue \"FREE WI-FI\" sign visible through it. The sign includes additional small text about Wi-Fi service." height="1333" src="https://assets.edwardjensen.net/media/MetrocenterClosingWeb-6436.jpg" width="2000" />

This sticker was still on the door of the Sears

<img alt="Interior of a shopping mall with a large American flag hanging from the ceiling. The mall features skylights, a two-level layout, and a central courtyard area with children's rides marked \"FUN\" and a \"HURRICANE SIMULATOR\" attraction. Small trees and plants decorate the space." height="2000" src="https://assets.edwardjensen.net/media/MetrocenterClosingWeb-6447.jpg" width="1333" />

Now we go inside. You can see elements of the original architecture but also the postmodern nonsense they put on top of it

Another interior shot. This is the east-west corridor

<img alt="A security desk with multiple computer monitors and a sign that reads "THERE MUST BE A GUARD AT THIS DESK AT ALL TIMES!" A black leather office chair sits at the desk which has a phone and various papers. The desk area has a yellow wall background." height="1333" src="https://assets.edwardjensen.net/media/MetrocenterClosingWeb-1732.jpg" width="2000" />

Even the security guards are mailing it in

The Dillard's clearance outlet is now only accessible from the outside, but the atrium still shows some of the original 1973 architecture

Short-term leases are available - act today, we're gone tomorrow!

And, finally, this sad balloon sums it all up.