Jukebox hero / Jukebox zero

Jukebox hero / Jukebox zero

The two who set the fire were caught a day later, after they were overheard bragging about it at a local McDonald's. I could not find trial information but inmate lookups reveal they both got 54 months.

Photograph. An abandoned movie theater auditorium scorched and severely damaged by an arson fire. Evidence flag is present in the front row, which is burned so badly the seat upholstery was incinerated leaving a bare metal skeleton. Further fire damage is present in the back row corner, which enveloped the decorative fabric which once lined the walls. The other seats in the theater all show scorched headrests. Sound deadening insulation has fallen from the ceiling onto the seats in the years since the fire.

Photograph. An abandoned movie theater auditorium scorched and severely damaged by an arson fire. The screen and side wall curtains are burned away, exposing charred sound deadening insulation and speakers. The seat backs are covered in soot and partially melted from the heat. Cobweb strands flutter in the breeze created by the photographer's presence. POV is from the projection booth looking toward the screen.

Photograph. Detail of a row of theater seating burned and partially-melted by an arson fire. Orange fire investigation flag sticks out of the furthest seat, where the evidence tech also discarded their vinyl glove. The walls to the side and behind the seating are scorched as bad.

Thank you for smoking

Screenshot, Flickr the morning of April 9, 2026, where no images or content loads on the main page.

Screenshot, Flickr the morning of April 9, 2026, where none of the Groups page content loads.

Screenshot, Flickr the morning of April 9, 2026, displaying Error loading groups messages.

Screenshot, Flickr on the morning of April 9, 2026 displaying the Bad Panda error message that haunts me in my sleep.

Hey Flickr: I used to pay $25/year for this but now it's $82... kindly shut the fuck up about MODE and fix your product.

God forbid I reach for anything in the backseat of my car...

Photograph. An unsettling room with checker-tiled floors and walls. About two feet of wall has been removed due to flooding. Toilets line both left and right-sides, the stall walls are removed due to flood remediation. The far wall has low-quality graffiti tagging. The ceiling is missing except for some janky-hanging box lights -- one is illuminated.

Conversation pit

Photograph, taken in 1998 by a property management company. A brand new movie theater's grand lobby reflecting retro-futurism tastes decked in neon and specular surfaces. A large concession stand on the left, beneath a large projection screen that displayed coming attractions. To the right is the entrance to theaters 10-18 (display for "A Bug's Life" in the corner); further right is the Cafe Del Moro which served deli sandwiches, coffee and premium beverages.

Photograph, taken in 2026 by the jonrev projects. The same theater lobby 28 years later, dark after closing in 2023 and currently in a state of severe disrepair. The concession stand has been ripped out entirely, likely due to water damage. Trash and debris strewn across the floors.

28 Years Later

Photograph, taken in 1998 by a property management company. A brand new movie theater's grand lobby reflecting retro-futurism tastes decked in neon and specular surfaces. A large concession stand on the left, beneath a large projection screen that displayed coming attractions. To the right is the entrance to theaters 10-18 (display for "A Bug's Life" in the corner); further right is the Cafe Del Moro which served deli sandwiches, coffee and premium beverages.

Photograph, taken in 2026 by the jonrev projects. The same theater lobby 28 years later, dark after closing in 2023 and currently in a state of severe disrepair. The concession stand has been ripped out entirely, likely due to water damage. Trash and debris strewn across the floors.

28 Years Later

The dead mall there has been on my list for a minute

A photo of four men posed drinking in front of an old brick building with a sign above them for Argus Brewery. One white man sits on a wooden barrel holding out a pitcher, a second white man in a novelty drinking hat leans on a big piece of plywood on which the words "you wave we drink" are spray painted, a Black man sits on a full size statue of a horse with both hands in the air, one holding a beer bottle, and a third white man sits on a three-wheel scooter with a pitcher in one hand, a bottle in the other, and a four-pack of beer bottles on the seat behind him.

Was looking at old Street View imagery of a block near home and found this absolutely perfect 2015 scene in front of a short-lived neighborhood brewery:

Photograph. A mirror-finished sculpture, "Monad" by Robert Perless, rises toward the ceiling over a dead enclosed shopping mall. A hexagonal-shaped skylight, is dead-center. POV is looking straight skyward from the base of the sculpture.

Structural demolition is underway at Lakeforest in Gaithersburg, Maryland

Screenshot, YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ple1Dzwa6tk), still from a 1981 television advert for the Nite-Owl information service that aired on WFLD-TV in the early 1980s. 8-bit graphic depicts the Chicago skyline at night, landmarks depicted L-R are the John Hancock Center, Playboy/Palmolive Building and 950 N. Michigan Ave. Text below reads "What's on in Chicago?"

Photograph. A dark, empty cinema auditorium with rows of high-backed seating on the floor, the screen to the right - out of frame. A large, colorful mosaic piece hangs on the wall, depicting a jukebox on a checkered balcony floor under a night sky, surrounded by a mosaic of felt shapes. The wall it hangs on is lined with a purple fabric material. Black ceiling and floors.

Photograph. Concession stand of an abandoned movie theatre - the counters, soffits and most fixtures are removed due to a history of water damage in the building. Unlit neon tubes accent the walls and concession areas. A void in the upper-center once housed a projection screen that displayed coming attractions.

Photograph. An empty and abandoned cinema auditorium, viewed from the projection booth looking toward the screen, with rows of stadium seating below. The walls are lined in a purple curtain material concealing sound deadening insulation - a sheet of which is falling off on the right. Speakers under the screen are exposed as looters steal the woofers. Black ceiling and red floors.

Purple

Nighttime photograph showing the rooftop of an abandoned shopping mall. In the foreground is a commercial air conditioning unit marked "17". The raised section to the right is above a mall concourse and capped by three octagonal-shaped skylights. In the distance is an even higher-raised section over the mall's center court, capped by a number of pyramid-shaped glass skylights. A bright light from the adjacent parking lot blinds the rest of the scene, however trees are visible beyond the horizon.

Nighttime photograph showing the rooftop of an abandoned shopping mall. The view creates an abstract effect from three pyramid-shaped glass skylights over the mall's center court.

Nighttime photograph showing the rooftop of an abandoned shopping mall. The view is of several pyramid-shaped glass skylights over the mall's center court. The second pyramid from the left has what appears to be a ray of light shooting skyward from its peak, created by parking lights from an adjacent business.

Nighttime photograph showing the rooftop of an abandoned shopping mall. The view creates an abstract visual from three pyramid-shaped glass skylights over the mall's center court.

There is no dark side of the mall, really... matter of fact, it's all dark

Northridge Mall rooftops - Milwaukee, Wisconsin (2018)
#blackfriday #abandoned #deadmalls #120film #photography

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See that’s where you’re wrong

Not to mention mall restrictions, closing arcades, and they defunded every bit of teen programming possible at the libraries, closed all the community centers, and refuse to fund after-school and weekend events...

RIP bubble wagon

Photograph. Exterior of a very large commercial retail building under a blue sky. It has two peaked entryways anchoring the very long stucco and metal-roofed facade. A labelscar in the center is where the Kmart logo was mounted. The building is of typical mid-1990s Super Kmart design. A vast, empty parking lot, with a single parking lamp off-center, fronts the scene.

Demolition is underway at the former Round Lake Beach Super Kmart; empty for 13 years beyond brief and early possession by Spirit Halloween. Its last function was as a COVID-19 mass vaccination site. Target bought the property and is building a new store, here.

Back in the day we taped a polaroid camera to a stick. Hilarity ensued.

Carousel Mall trashed by scavengers and squatters in San Bernardino “It breaks your heart,” says security guard as columnist David Allen and photographer Watchara Phomicinda tour the mall, which is slated for demolition.

This one fell *hard*

Polaroid scan. The word "hot" in red neon is repeated against a blue textured background, white border frame with a white divot from dried up developer chemicals not covering the full print. Discoloration due to 20-year aged film. • Polaroid 195 Land Camera • Polaroid 669 expired July '05

Proper scan...

I was going to say that April Fool’s Day is the dumbest day on the internet, but every day is the dumbest day on the internet these days.

Screenshot, Google Street View. Exterior of Forman Mills store at North Riverside Park Mall - previously a Montgomery Ward and Sears. Cars parked in the parking lot. Commercial retail building with stucco facade and red canopies over a pair of entry doors. Mall entrance to the left. Sunny day.

Screenshot, Google Street View. Kane County Clerk's Office in St. Charles, Illinois - a former Montgomery Ward store. A large commercial retail building with a stucco facade. Cars in a large parking lot. Three flag poles in center, behind which is a faint labelscar that reads "Wards".

Locally, I know the North Riverside Park and St. Charles stores got this exterior remodel.

Riverside did a long stint as Sears and is now Forman Mills, and St. Charles has housed the Kane County Clerk + other municipal offices for many years.

Both currently retain the late-stage Wards exteriors.

Blast from the past: Wards signs uncovered during mall project SPRINGFIELD, MO – Construction work at Battlefield Mall revealed some interesting “signs” of the city’s retail history.   On Monday, contractors removing the facade on the old Dilla…

Well this certainly makes me question how many more late-remodel Wards stores have signs hiding behind stucco. Ward had just emerged from bankruptcy at the time of this renovation program and would've been prone to cutting corners like this.

Polaroid scan. A pink neon sign at night reads "PARK RIDGE PAINT & GLASS CO." Another illuminated sign advertises a "Color Center" for some paint brand. • Polaroid SLR-680 SE • Polaroid Color 600

Park Ridge, Illinois

Polaroid scan. Atrium of a dying shopping mall, an open JCPenney store on left. Inverted pyramid-shaped pendant lighting hangs in the atrium, a curved glass skylight is overhead. Planters and modular seating are visible on the mall. No shoppers are seen. • Polaroid SLR-680 SE • Polaroid Color 600

Brookfield Square - Brookfield, Wisconsin

#deadmalls #mall #retail #jcpenney #polaroid #WI #photography

Polaroid scan. Four columns clad in decorative panels and lighting support a skylight ceiling with a lattice structure in the lower middle. Two floors of retail shops are visible in this enclosed mall, most of the stores are closed and vacant. • Polaroid SLR-680 SE • Polaroid Color 600

Polaroid scan. Atrium of a dying enclosed shopping mall, anchored at this end by Neiman Marcus - a luxury department store. There are two levels of retail stores, a gift shop and intimate apparel boutique are open. Tiffany & Co. storefront visible on the left. A few shoppers stroll the upper level. Modular seating and a decorative column under a bright skylight, on right. • Polaroid SLR-680 SE • Polaroid Color 600

Northbrook Court - Northbrook, Illinois

#deadmalls #mall #retail #polaroid #IL #photography