Here's my girl, in her glory days - Century Plaza circa 1976 (click on the picture to enlarge). I freakin' loved that mall. It makes me so sad to think of what they've done to her.
I periodically keep tabs on the Malls of America blog, and CP was featured a while back. This photo comes by way of patriarca12's flickrset (I hope that patriarca12 and the MOA dude don't mind.)
This was the greatest mall ever. All dark and brown and earth-tone-y. Eastwood Mall was my parents' mall, but this was my mall. I mean, she had a McDonald's for crying out loud! No food court, just autonomous restaurants & eateries scattered throughout: Morrisons (later Picadilly's), Shoney's, Chick-Fil-A, Orange Julius, KarmelKorn...
Man was it great, it had an old man's tobacco shop (don't remember the name) - with chess boards and ivory pipes, an organ/piano store, an Aladin's Castle, a stamp collecting store, an Alabama Outdoors, complete with a rustic wooden floor... *tear*
As indicated by DeadMalls.com, CP is dying a slow and painful death. I miss her. I'm going to go cry now.
***Update***
Another BlogSpot blogger, J.T., has taken many good pics for his recent blog post on CP. Check it out.
A Century Plaza ad in December 1976, please visit Birmingham Rewound for all kinds of cool nostalgia.
9 comments:
so why can't we comment on yer 300 review. speaking of movie reviews, you should go check out "shooter". there is some great political insight in the movie, espoused by ned beatty: a corrupt (undoubtedly republican) senator and deliverance rapee. Ned states that there are no republicans and no democrats, there are only multinational conglomerates and poor people. haves and have-nots. and the haves hire ex-marine snipers to kill the have-nots.
anyway, i dont want to spoil the movie for you, but aside from the brilliant political expose, the movie also contains many glorious headshots. nevermind the factual impossibility of where mark wahlberg manages to conjure up his extensive arsenal of napalm and remote-detonated pipe bombs ... he shoots people in the face and blood splatters everywhere. as correctly noted by one of my buddies, this movie is oscar material.
also, note that there is a link to "briefcase" on "why is it making me create this" .... its under "greatest blog of all time."
300 commenting now available. my bad. didn't know it was disabled.
well then Shooter is sorta ripping off Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery in which Robert Wagner's Number Two explains to Dr. Evil that there is "no more world anymore, there's only corporations."
but my querstion for Number Two is "What exactly did happen on that boat with Natalie, him & Christopher Walken?"
i looked up metro center on that dead malls link ... it was truly an amazing mall back in the day. now its like a crack house and should probably be condemned by the city of jackson. maybe frank melton (while wearing a police uniform and carrying a personal sidearm) can use a bulldozer to demolish it
We had a bit of excitement last night at Century. This story is an indicator of just how things are going for CP, as well as for the rest of Birmingham.
From the B'hamNews.com:
Suspect, Birmingham officer exchange fire
Posted by Birmingham News staff April 15, 2007 08:28AM
A Birmingham police officer and a suspect fleeing Century Plaza exchanged gunfire around 9 p.m. Saturday, but no one was injured, police said.
The officer had been called in to assist mall security to assist in pursuing a person, said Officer Hughes of the East Precinct. It is unclear why the person was being pursued.
Hughes said the person fired a gun at the officer, but did not hit the officer. The officer returned fire, but did not hit the person. No one was injured and no arrests were made, Hughes said.
Jeremy Gray
Metro Center in Jackson has a really informative web site. There's so much to do on their web page, imagine how much there is to do at the actual mall! I love the city skyline graphic at the top, perhaps inferring that's what Jackson actually looks like...
I have current pics of Century Plaza Mall in its fast dying state on my blogsite: http://georgiaretailmemories.blogspot.com/2007/03/century-plaza-mall.html#links
CP was quite significant to me because (1) it was one of three malls in Birmingham that had a Rich's (I'm an Atlanta native). (2) it was built by the same people that brought Atlanta Cumberland Mall...a mall that was absolutely unbelieavably beautiful and spectacular in its day like CP and (3) it's a classic mall I heard was dying.
While I think CP is quite depressing on the outside, like most 70's malls I can definitely picture the wonders inside. I've had an equally hard time seeing what became of Cumberland Mall...Georgia's first four-anchor mall much like CP was Alabama's first four-anchor mall. I also have a friend that got me into the Birmingham retail scene, so now I am constantly looking for any photos or info on Pizitz, Loveman's and the various other chains from there...some which made their way to here for awhile like Big "B" Drugs and its parent company Bruno's.
How popular were the Atlanta stores like Rich's there in the 'Ham? Looks like you barely missed Davison's...the RG store opened as a Macy's with one hell of an arch I noted. I am hoping to go back there for more retail photographic fun here soon.
those are some good pics, J.T. She's a ghost of her old self, I'm holding back the tears.
I really never shopped at Rich's. I stayed closer to the "husky" section of Sears, a trauma of its own that we won't get into here. Rich's was a little more upscale, but it was more popular with old women. However, it was a hotspot when the Tommy Hilfiger craze hit circa '92-93...
Seeing the old ads on Birmingham Rewound reminded me of the old Wendy's tables with old newspaper ads on them. I wonder if there are any of those left?
man, wendy's tables were cool. i think they all went the way of the dodo.
i always thought it would suck to work there back in the 70's, though. guys had to wear knickers.
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