SOUTH SQUARE MALL: DURHAM, NC
Dan Reigada's Commentary
Posted January 10, 2006 (user submitted)
I moved to Durham, NC in 2001. At that time, the city had 2 existing malls;
Northgate and South Square. Under construction, at the time, was a third
mall, the new behemoth called "The Streets at Southpoint". I really didnt go to
South Square mall. I'm a bookstore fanatic and they didnt have a decent
one at South Square so I didnt go much. It was a 2 level mall, with some
enclosed parking on the outside. It was your basic mid-market mall. Im sure
others around Durham know much more about the history of the mall than I do,
since I moved here in 2001. I read that the mall opened in 1975, and it seemed
to do a pretty good business when I first moved here. I remember that in May
2001 there was a shooting at the mall which was on the news. I'm sure that that
incident only helped to seal the fate of this mall.
In March 2002, the Streets at Southpoint Mall opened about 6 miles away. It was
bigger, fancier, and much more upscale. Soon after that, South Square quickly
emptied out. It was demolished in 2003 (I believe). When I heard it was about
to be demolished, I stopped by one last time to check out the empty mall.
South Square was not allowed to be a dead mall for long. After the demolition,
a Super Target, Sam's club, and Ross (among others) opened on the site of the
former South Square Mall. It had a great location, right on busy US 15-501,
between downtown Durham and Chapel Hill. The site is now thriving probably more
so than when the mall was still viable. The only traces of the mall are the
Office Depot and Firestone, which used to surround the mall and are still
there, built in the same style as the old mall.
Northgate mall is still doing good business it is on the north side of
town and was not as affected by the opening of the Streets at Southpoint. In my
opinion,the South Square mall was a victim of the increasing affluence and good
economy of the area. Durham used to be a center of the tobacco industry, but it
is now becoming a suburb of Research Triangle Park. Plus there are several
major universities (UNC, Duke) in the area with major hospitals. With all of
the wealthy newcomers to the area, I suppose that the powers that be determined
that Durham could support a more upscale mall with stores like Neiman Marcus.
And that was all she wrote for the old mall.
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Paul’s Commentary:
User submitted Apr 2007South Square brings back a lot of memories from this Durham native.
My earliest memories of it are during the early 1980s. I was born in '81 so actually some of my formative memories are of inside South Square: being fascinated by the photo-mat on the second level which would spit out people's developed photos on a vertical conveyor belt for window shoppers to see. There was the Orange Julius with its perpetual line, the Ruffino's pizza (a fantastic local chain--they had one in Northgate too, back then) where my folks would always get me a slice. I remember going to see "Gremlins" at the movie theater on the lower level. As we came out of the theater the police had two pimps sprawled onto the hood of a car, being patted down. South Square always attracted Durham's less savory elements.
The movies left and a Chinese restaurant moved in where it once was. Nothing special but a neighborhood staple for Southwest Durhamites in the days before 54 and the Southpoint area were so developed.
I remember the fountain on the west side of the mall, how serene it was with that wonderful 1970s design. South Square was truly beautiful. The mall was an extension of my life: I remember clinging to the hem of my mother's skirt when I could barely walk through there; I remember the tumult of middle school and trying to avoid gangs outside the arcade who would chase you and try and mug you; I remember my first hookup with a girl on the bench outside of the upper level Chapel Hill Blvd entrance. All those years and that one building was an anchor for all the stuff that swirled around me.
I went off to college in Greensboro and I didn't get to see the slow death of South Square. One day I came back home and drove down University and the mall sat there gutted, only half the shell of the exterior left. It hurt. It felt like seeing a family member dying on the street. Seriously. It's funny how we attach ourselves to these buildings. Now once a year I'll go home and I don't even recognize that parcel of land, it's just like any other. I wonder where all the memories from that mall went to: all the laughter and tears and all the clothes and stuff bought there, all the dollar bills and pizza slices and the light from the video game machines. It's all just memories now.
--PN 4-10-2007