The Ghost of White Flint Mall speaks! (Video + photos)

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 43

Welcome to The Dark Side of White Flint, an ongoing series about the not-so-wonnerful, wonnerful, wonnerful side of urbanizing the suburbs of Montgomery County.

A spooky message from
beyond the grave from
the ghost of White Flint Mall

Some paranormal investigators believe that ghosts cannot communicate with the material world unless they have a medium of communication, such as an electronic device. Even Thomas Edison tried to create a ghost radio to speak to the dead. Recently, the ghost of White Flint Mall appeared to commandeer the mall's old digital sign, and send a garbled message to us all, and I captured it on film.

There's nothing on the site now but a field, after the mall that was fully-leased at the time its owners announced it would be demolished was finally razed. The "town center" project that the owners gambled on is now in development hell, and they must pay Lord & Taylor a whopping $31 million for breaking their contract with the upscale department store, which is the only portion of the mall still in operation.

What message was the mall trying to send us? Stay tuned.

"Our chimneys were blown down; and, as they say, 

Lamentings heard i' the air; strange screams of death,

And prophesying with accents terrible

Of dire combustion and confused events."

White Flint Mall now a pile of rubble (Photos) #DeadMall

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 41

Welcome to The Dark Side of White Flint, an ongoing series about the not-so-wonnerful, wonnerful, wonnerful side of urbanizing the suburbs of Montgomery County.

Where the grand White Flint Mall once stood on Rockville Pike is only a pile of rubble. Where shoppers might this week have navigated the jammed parking lots in a scramble for last-minute holiday gifts...where they might have dined at fine restaurants like The Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang's after completing those tasks...and where they might have taken in the latest blockbuster chapter in the Star Wars saga...sits a pile of rubble.

I'll conclude on behalf of the mall that thrived until the owners pulled the plug with the words of Bill Shakespeare:

“But let it be. Horatio, I am dead;  

  Thou livest; report me and my cause aright

  To the unsatisfied.”

White Flint Mall - destroyed!! (Photos)

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 40

Welcome to The Dark Side of White Flint, an ongoing series about the not-so-wonnerful, wonnerful, wonnerful side of urbanizing the suburbs of Montgomery County.

What's left of White Flint Mall is coming down fast, including some of the most iconic interior features like the futuristic elevator shaft. The famous front facade glass is leaning backwards.

Demolition of main White Flint Mall building underway (Photos)

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 38

Welcome to The Dark Side of White Flint, an ongoing series about the not-so-wonnerful, wonnerful, wonnerful side of urbanizing the suburbs of Montgomery County.

After destroying the parking decks surrounding the legendary mall, construction crews are now demolishing White Flint Mall itself. As you can see in these photos, the iconic entrance of the dead mall is demolition central right now, with piles of debris surrounding it.

Now that the recent court decision has vindicated the arguments both I and Lord & Taylor have been making for years, expect the demolition and posturing to continue by mall owner Lerner. All the threats you've been hearing about the development being unable to go forward is simply an attempt to influence the public, the media, elected officials - and ultimately the courts - to absolve them from their $31 million in legal obligations to Lord & Taylor. I salute Lord & Taylor for their continued willingness to fight, and for their loyalty to the patrons of their store and of the mall itself. Imagine trying to run that store when everyone is under the impression that the whole property is closed, and in direct violation of the agreement signed by both parties.

The question of whether or not Wegman's has lost interest in building a store on the grandfathered Bloomingdale's footprint is the actual issue that theoretically would be of most concern to Lerner. Long rumored, a Wegman's would have certainly been used by Lerner to deodorize the "town center" it intends to replace the mall with from public criticism. Without a coveted anchor like Wegman's, it will be far more challenging to draw traffic from the multiple other town centers that will be operating in the Pike District - and many more are on the way.

Certainly, some of these town centers will be successful. But is fully urbanizing the area going to be sustainable for 9 or more individual property owners, each having restaurants and stores that need to pay rent fighting for the same audience?

Explore the Dark Side further:

Take a last flight through the wreckage of White Flint Mall - aboard a drone!

All photos ©2015 Robert Dyer
Do not steal these photos without permission!

White Flint Mall demolition begins (Photos)

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 36

Welcome to The Dark Side of White Flint, an ongoing series about the not-so-wonnerful, wonnerful, wonnerful side of urbanizing the suburbs of Montgomery County.

White Flint Mall's doors have been locked since the first week of January, and now the actual demolition process of the officially-dead mall is underway. The mall structure has been fenced off, and a number of windows have been smashed out. They appear to be working on the interior of the building at this point.

More trips to the Dark Side:

White Flint Mall sign goes dark, P.F. Chang's stripped

Lights out for White Flint Mall's social media accounts

Dave and Buster's closes at White Flint Mall

WHITE FLINT MALL SIGN GOES DARK AFTER MALL CLOSES, P.F. CHANG'S STRIPPED (PHOTOS)

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 35

Welcome to The Dark Side of White Flint, an ongoing series about the not-so-wonnerful, wonnerful, wonnerful side of urbanizing the suburbs of Montgomery County.

After White Flint Mall locked its doors for good this weekend, and P.F. Chang's China Bistro ceased operations late Sunday night, Monday found the mall's landmark electronic sign along Rockville Pike dark. Once alive with names of mall tenants and information, it now stands as a monument to unbound greed in the so-called "new economy." The one remaining business on the site, Lord & Taylor, can't be happy about the lack of electronic signage alerting motorists that it is still there. Lord & Taylor was one of the few voices of reason attempting to stop demolition of the successful mall. Owning its own building structure, the famed department store will continue operating even after the rest of the mall is demolished.

P.F. Chang's iconic horses were ripped from their pedestals and corralled out front, joined by a solitary take-out bag, as the advance winds of an Alberta Clipper swept across the once-full front parking lot. Gone were the signs and menu board. Hungry diners drove up seeking a bite of Mongolian Beef, only to find the restaurant was no more. They staggered demoralized back into their cars, back into the darkness.

"Time takes it all whether you want it to or not, time takes it all. Time bears it away, and in the end there is only darkness."

- Stephen King

Welcome to the Dark Side.

Read more about
The Dark Side of White Flint:

White Flint Mall closes its doors

No more fresh-baked cookies

The final hours of the White Flint Mall post office

DAVE AND BUSTER'S CLOSES AT WHITE FLINT MALL (PHOTOS)

The Dark Side of White Flint, Part 30

Welcome to The Dark Side of White Flint, an ongoing series about the not-so-wonnerful, wonnerful, wonnerful side of urbanizing the suburbs of Montgomery County.

Welcome to 

The Dark Side of White Flint: 

Millenial Edition.

"Hot, young millennials" are ostensibly the target audience for the new, urbanized "more muscular" White Flint. Last night, the only business currently drawing millennials to White Flint was packing up and moving out of town. Ordered out first by the owners of White Flint Mall, and then by a court ruling, Dave and Buster's has complied, closing its doors for good after 18 years.

The rotating D&B sign was stilled, then removed. Arcade machines like Gone Fishing, and Whac-a-Mole were being boxed up for shipping. Teddy bears lay on a brick wall inside the restaurant. In the corridors last night, the only sound was the hum of the escalator leading up to Dave and Buster's. A security guard informed a young, millennial couple approaching the arcade-restaurant that the business had closed. With a dramatic flourish, he flipped a switch, and the escalator stopped moving. Silence. Dave and Buster's was no more.

For those with scorecards in hand, here's the latest update on the urbanization of suburban White Flint: Zero chef-driven restaurants coming on board. Zero Fortune 500 corporate headquarters signed on. And zero 30-story, Class A office towers with Intelsat or the CEB headquarters, as Fairfax and Arlington counties recently celebrated.

The only thing remotely like Dave and Buster's on the boards right now for White Flint is Pinstripes, a bowling alley, bocce court and bistro all-in-one. A sign posted at the shuttered Dave and Buster's just about says it all. "Want to have fun, kids? Hit the interstate for Arundel Mills Mall!" A highly-successful indoor mall, to boot! Drive, drive, drive!

Gone fishing, indeed.

No more fun and games!

Click to enlarge to spot
the teddy bears on the wall

A final look inside
Dave and Buster's

Hasta la vista, millenials!

The sign no longer turns,
the escalator no longer hums

Close-up of the dismantled,
formerly-rotating sign at
Dave and Buster's

Don't worry, there'll be plenty
of barista and jeans-folding
jobs available for millenials
in the new White Flint!

Time to cut bait

The moles won! Whac-A-Mole
is shipping out in search of
hipper vibes

Game over

Turbo Theater now just a
walk-in closet

Hey, millenials, we don't have Dave
and Buster's anymore, but we do
have a repainted Metrobus.
We call it, "Rapid Transit." How
'bout it, kids? Hello? Hello?!
They hung up on us!

And then there were two

Go back to where it all started! The first episode of The Dark Side of White Flint.