Dadeland Mall
Miami, Florida - circa 1975
Fantastic sprawling aerial view for another mall I've never featured here. Welcome to Dadeland Mall! Funky interior shots of this one are coming soon.
History: 1962 - present
Current website: here
Current aerial view
Info from Wikipedia
Previous entries: none
posted by Keith @ 7/25/2006
7 Comments:
Hey, another mall I'm very familiar with. During my first few post college years, I had the luxury of spinning malts and singing retro 60's tunes at the Johnny Rockets in The Dadeland Mall, circa 1995-1998. Alas, I've been told the JRocks store has been converted into a small counter front.
The neat thing about the Rockets back then was that it had taken over a groovy bank, and you could still hang out in the old, creepy, VERY Dawn Of The Dead'esque bank offices in the hall behind the restaurant.
However, I don't miss cleaning the grease trap.
pJ
I love this one.... never been but want to go.... yet another temple of consumerism!
Wow, how cool is this mall? Love the surrounding area with its estate-size homes.
Scott
Great photos of Dadeland; keep 'em coming! One note though: the circa '75 pic has to be at least 10 years later as the three additional stores on the right side of the mall in the photo were added after 1984. The Saks at the bottom right opened in 1984 and the Lord & Taylor at the top near the original JCP opened shortly after that. I was there in 1986; but when you get great photos like these who really cares, right? Thanks again.
You're probably right. The next one is 1975.
I have great memories of the 70's Dadeland - my Grandmother worked at the Lillie Rubin store there and at the "old" Miracle Mile strip in nearby Coral Gables. The mall had the largest Burger King in the US at the time (their HQ was across N Kendall Drive from the mall) and was known for the huge Burdines store that split the mall into 2 pieces. Thanks for the photos!
Thanks for a great website and great pix. Dadeland was a mall I grew up in, in the 70s, and I recall it being a fantastic place--sort of the last word in style. There were SO many jeans stores there since the whole "designer jeans" thing had been spawned in the disco years. I recall much of the mall as being pretty glamorous. I just wish someone would post a picture of the FABULOUS gigantic mosaic-tiled horse fountain that was in the center! (I have a picture of myself at age 10 or so in the very early 70s posing in front of it--if I find it while going through my parents' pictures, I will scan and post so folks can see just how fabulous that fountain was).
My family moved from Miami in 1979, and I had not really been back since then, but this year, 2007, I had reason to be in Miami--and decided to stop in and see Dadeland. I can attest that it is now a characterless, flat, bland average mall with nothing to recommend it at all! They leveled out the whole mall so there are no longer any steps or ramps (which I felt gave the topography of the mall some interest), they removed the fountain and horse completely, and all the stores are just your average "upscale mall" stores that litter most malls these days. I can't convey how disappointed I was. I tried to walk through the central Macy's, imagining the former Burdine's store that used to divide the mall into halves--basically a "cool" half and a not-so-happening half--but I just could not make any of it match up with my memory.
The area around the mall has changed enormously also. It used to be the big attraction and is now dwarfed by higher buildings surrounding it. The duplex theatre directly across the street is gone--where I first saw TOMMY and THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY--and is now a low-profiled Circuit City. The lower office building next to that, that once housed the Burger King headquarters is still there, although no longer Burger King's HQ. There was a sign that announced a new and much taller office building is to be built on that spot.
None of it looked even remotely familiar to me, and I must say that Miami has turned into a dismal pit.
Yes, yes, I also realize that my memories of Dadeland could be simply nostalgic and romanticized, but I have spoken to friends who have remained connected to the area, and they agree with me that the old mall just ain't what she used to be... AT ALL.
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