Update: The completed redevelopment left much to be desired.
The demolition of Northwest Plaza, once the queen of the shopping malls of St. Louis, continues. As the ill-fated, and revealed by the demolition of the cheaply built enclosure of the mall in the late 1980’s nears completion, one can see the original anchors in much the way they would have been seen when the mall first opened. That being said, the Sears and Dillards are rapidly coming down, and there will be little left of them by the end of 2013. Below, the hulk of the Dillards under demolition.
And here is the Sears, with much of its southern wing already destroyed.
But the good news, if you can call if that, is the original J.C. Penney and Famous Barr buildings will remain, according to the mall’s redevelopment plan.
A little bit of the enclosed portion of the mall will apparently remain; as mentioned earlier, demolition has revealed how sloppy and slipshod that construction was. The old Scruggs, Vandervoort and Barney store, converted into a movie theater, has already been completely demolished.
Below is the Famous Barr, with one of the distinctive domes left intact.
The office tower will remain as well.
The old J.C. Penney will remain, despite being the least architecturally meritorious of the original anchors.
Man, that is totally depressing. I remember NWP when it was outside, and when it was a hopping indoor place. Sad…
I drove down St. Charles Rock Road recently and nearly rear ended the car in front of me as I stared at the progress of the demolition, which I had not seen before. It was painful to see and I knew it was planned but seeing it in person threw me for a loop. It was not so much the loss of the empty retail spaces that bothered me but the flood of memories that I know I share with many across the region who grew up shopping at Northwest Plaza. Thanks for the photos.
Oh no! I’ve been to this mall so many times. I grew up with it from when I was a little girl. I can remember when it wasn’t enclosed and shopping in the rain and snow. I haven’t been there in almost 10 years…breaks my heart.
I spent 7 weeks in St Louis on business back in 1990. Northwest Plaza was the centre of my existence for that time. Got to say its sad to see it go.