Avondale Mall

infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Avondale Mall / Columbia Mall


caption =
location = Decatur, Georgia, USA
opening_date = 1964
closing_date = 2001
developer =
manager =
owner =
number_of_stores =
number_of_anchors = 2
floor_area =
floors = 1
website =
parking =

Avondale Mall, originally known as "Columbia Mall", opened in 1964 as the first enclosed mall in the state of Georgia USA. The mall's original name came from its location at the intersection of Columbia & Memorial Drives near Avondale Estates. It was demolished in 2007.

Anchors

Davison's (Opened shortly before the enclosed mall; 1986 became Macy's ; then a Macy's Clearance; closed 1995)
Sears (Opened shortly before the enclosed mall, closed 1984)

Various Stores

Baskin Robbins
Goody's
Sears Outlet
McCrory
Blockbuster
Walgreens
Avondale 16 Cinema

Movies, Renovations & Name Changes

After the departure of Sears, and prior to the commencement of renovations, it was a location for some of the interior and exterior shopping mall scenes of the Chuck Norris movie "Invasion USA". The "entry" crash of the Chevy pickup into the mall was shot at the mall's main entrance. The scenes inside the mall with the Nissan pickup were in the interior of the mall nearest the Davison's end, the escalator scene is inside the old Sears building, and the "exit" crash through the window is the western side of Sears on the first level (the movie then cut to an exterior scene of a mall in South Florida). Interestingly, the "exit" scene also shows a blue and white Cushman "Security" cart that was borrowed from Belvedere Plaza across the street - Columbia/Avondale Mall had no security vehicles of its own at the time. [http://www.deadmalls.com/malls/columbia_avondale_mall.html Invasion USA Paragraph reference]

Following the use of the mall for a movie scene, the renovations and name change commenced. The new name chose to help revitalize this mall was, Avondale Mall. The renovation resulted in an expansion of the mall into all of the former Sears store, subdividing both the upper and lower floors into smaller tenant spaces. At one time, the lower level of the old Sears building housed a new, smaller Sears Outlet Store, which later became a Goody's for a period of time. The mall also featured a McCrory's.

Later Years

The decline at the mall began in the 1970s and 1980s. When the Anchor stores left in 1984 and 1995 respectively, the malls inability to attract replacements led to the decline. Management made an attempt in 1995 to increase foot traffic. After Davison's/Macy's left the mall, that anchor building's upper floor was converted to a 16 screen movie theater, while the lower floor remained vacant except for a newly built stairwell leading from the lower level mall to the upper level theaters. This addition to the mall maybe have helped keep them up and running for another 6 years, but the mall was eventually closed at the end of 2001.

Demolition

Demolition of the mall began in February 2007. The last two walls of the old Sears came down on March 21, 2007. [http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/02/20/0221metrats.html AJC article about demolition of Avondale Mall] [http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/02/12/0213metavondale.html Additional Avondale Mall demolition article] [http://karendean.net/thsnowandthenphotos/page33.html Demolition Pictures] The former mall was replaced with a Wal-Mart Supercenter, as well as space for condominiums and commercial outlots. This plan met with strong resistance from residents of nearby Avondale Estates, however, the Wal-Mart opened to brisk sales in March 2008.

Unique Site

The Avondale Mall site is unique in that it has a small family cemetery in its parking lot. The graves belong to the ancestors of the original property holders, and the mall was built on the condition that the graves would not be disturbed. The cemetery is surrounded by granite walls, square in shape and inward-sloping, with an iron fence at the top. The headstones and grave sites are actually at the top of the structure, as this is the original grade level of the property; the construction of the mall removed approximately 12 feet of elevation. [http://karendean.net/thsnowandthenphotos/page24.html Crowley Graves pictures and information] This site remained undisturbed during the construction of the Wal-Mart.

Site Drawings

External links

*View March 2007 Columbia Mall demolition pictorial located at:http://karendean.net/thsnowandthenphotos/page33.html

*View Columbia Mall from days gone by (years 1972, 2000, and 2005) located at:http://karendean.net/thsnowandthenphotos/page21.html

*View photographs of the Crowley Mausoleum (cemetery at Columbia/Avondale Mall) at: http://karendean.net/thsnowandthenphotos/page24.html

*Information about the crowley graves at Columbia Mall:http://larryfeltonjohnson.typepad.com/atlantalarry/2005/01/crowley_graves_.html

*Columbia Mall is now Avondale Walmart:http://karendean.net/thsnowandthenphotos/page35.html

References

External links