Hawthorne Plaza: Popularity of Urban Decay
by Lili Do, Steven Ebalobor, Karl Orotea, Lexi Viernes
Current Status | Karl Orotea
The perimeter of what used to be a developing mall is now surrounded by rusted beige colored metal gates that segregate it from the free standing and still open-for-business stores on the south end. On the east side of the dead mall is a 4 story parking garage with its entrances — chained and locked — , basement and street level openings blocked over with metal fences that looked as if the welding job was rushed. The entire block that the parking garage takes up exhibits scattered signs on the fences displaying in bold black letters “NO TRESPASSING”. One can find various locations to get inside the parking structure in order to access the abandoned mall. For the safety of others; to covet this urban treasure like a little secret; and to respect rule #5 of urban exploring, specific areas of entrance will not be disclosed.
Following instructions found on Instagram, we make our way up to the top of the garage in search of the “bridge that leads to the graffiti.” The garage is desolate, empty and emitting this rather eerie feel despite it being only noon. As we walk up the last ramp, fences attached with barbed wire discourage loiterers from accessing the roof of the garage. It looks as if they were just newly installed, sparkling with a silver luster in the sunlight. We then come across a skywalk that overlooks the grounds of the mall. Foliage, weeds, mounds of dirt, assorted pieces of construction material clutter the landscape while random spots of graffiti make you question a person’s ability to scale a wall.
The entrance to get inside the mall is colorfully displayed with a defaced facade. Each distinguishable tag is either an unreadable word or a drawing stacked on top of a prior tag. It looks to be a high profile place to attract high schoolers who are able to get their hands on Krink pens and Montana spray paint cans. Rather than notebooks or textbooks, this entire area is seen as a canvas. Others in the past made a little more effort by bringing sledgehammers to take on the drywall. Evidently, tucked in a corner is the result of such effort. The particular hole to enter the interior of the mall looked considerable enough for us to fit, but we found it necessary to duck and twist our bodies in order to get to the other side. Once weaseling our way in, the vast, unoccupied space was a magnificent sight. Support beams jut out the crowd towards roof of the building forcing your eyes to stare at the open plenum. The elements of the building services, such as ductwork and piping, hang derelict but for the most part suspended. Time had made this place delicate and we were in awe at how the architectural skeleton of the building was still perfectly preserved. We were indebted to whomever made accessibility possible.
The musty air and copious amounts of dust reminded me of entering an attic used for storage or even a Home Depot. For being unoccupied for 16 years, I was surprised to learn there was no horrid smell of rot or defecation. Each step lifted dust clouds or generated noise when in contact with the debris. Broken tiles, chips and fragments of wood, packing peanuts, cement blocks and broken fluorescent tube light bulbs make up the majority of the rubble. Any signs of life that came in contact with this place left spray paint canisters, beer bottles and cans, cigarette butts, portions of old furniture or remnants of toys. There were no hints that anyone seemed to live here for days at a time.
The center aisle of the mall resembles a trench from the second floor. Shaded areas where stores used to be housed are completely pitch black. What remains of unblocked skylights let limited amount of light in the forms of directional beams indicating the position of the sun. The second floor is exclusively lit up during the day but the lack of light reflectance throughout the mall leaves darker surfaces unscathed from any natural light. In reality, we were only a story high when observing the different nature of the floors but the unbarred second floor exponentially heightened our experience. All handrails or any type of barrier segregating you from falling off the second floor are now completely removed. Bridges connecting the west and east side of the second floor are still intact but walking across or even on the edge of the second floor can easily give you vertigo.
Hawthorne Plaza is known to urban explorers for it’s iconic escalators. Placed in the center plaza of the mall, the two-way escalator’s only purpose it to serve as another set of stairs to access both floors of the mall. Plenty of trash is littered around the area implying the concentrated amount of traffic the escalators attract from photographers, graffiti artists, skaters, and other categorial rebellious terms alike.
Touring the mall is simply wandering from end to end. The north end of the mall, however, showcases a mural of mediocre graffiti. An abundance of spray cans and broken glass cover the floor where one can deduct the purposeful smashing of fluorescent tubes and bottles. A rusted metal bench from-who-knows-where lies collapsed on one side. It could have been used for skaters or BMX-ers to grind on or a stepping stool for people to tag higher parts of the wall.
We continue our exploration around the mall looking for distinct locations filled with interesting, ambient lighting. We split up with each of us wandering in different directions with leading curiosity. Steven finds himself in a completely pitch black area that has been partially flooded from the rare times it has rained in Southern California. He whips out a miniature lamp from his backpack and turns it on. Scanning the perimeter, he continues deeper into the darkness to admire what he reveals with the artificial light.
Lili and Lexi meander the field observing the graffiti tagged on pillars and air ducts. Some are actually quite commendable works of art while others are lousy doodles. Their admiration for some of these drawings bring them to closer inspection of the building’s ducts and pillars. There’s clear evidence of insulation rot which is the culprit behind the musty smell emitted inside the mall. The rotting is caused by the fiberglass insulation soaking in moisture. Numerous spots unprotected from the rain and elements display the rotting insulation being weighed down hanging from ducts and pipes and being compressed while congregating on the ceiling and pillars. I step back and accidentally step on a patch of the soggy material. No longer its pink hue, I can only deduce that the disgusting grayish green color of the insulation meant mold.
We then eventually congregated again to share our findings with each other. After agreeing we had plenty to report on, we decided on a little big of fun for ourselves. Of course, respecting the building and leaving it intact as much as possible is priority. Steven surveyed the area on his skateboard as I took photos of him enjoying the oddly, smooth floor. It also opened our eyes to the vibrant floor designs and more graffiti art on the first floor. We compared older photos with the mall’s current status and amazed how much has changed. A few years ago, 2011 to be exact, the mall was still structured with a suspended ceiling, walls separating stores, storefronts, and handrails. Either plans for the demolition of the mall or renovation of it were made prior to our visit.
Abandoned and desolate, the Hawthorne Plaza Shopping Center is the perfect place for hooliganism, loitering, uncensored crime, urban studies, photography, and cinematography. The empty space is a canvas for graffiti scrawlers. For skaters, it’s a free roaming Tony Hawk stage free of harassment from security. For photographers and videographers, the limited light provoke shadow play while the mall’s infrastructure create patterns and lines aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Urban historians can even exemplify the correlation between the mall and its historical, social, cultural, economic, and political environment to trace the combined reasons why it became abandoned in the first place. On the other hand, questions have been raised to why it hasn’t been restored or made better use of than an eyesore and a dormant shell. But until the city officials of Hawthorne initiate funding towards the transformation of Hawthorne Plaza, it will still be a destination for mischief and urban exploring. Conclusively, Hawthorne Plaza’s decrepit status is a prime example of learning more about urban decay.
History | Lexi Viernes
Hawthorne Plaza Mall was built during a thriving time period in South Bay Los Angeles, where the city of Hawthorne’s population was expanding at an increasing rate. The aerospace industry was booming in Southern California, bringing in high paying jobs, higher property values, and higher amounts of leisure time for employees and their families. The mall was created hoping to cater to the growing middle class society.
The process began with the Hawthorne Plaza Redevelopment Project, a plan to create a center of beauty and commerce for the surrounding communities of Hawthorne. Approved in 1969 by the Urban Renewal Commission of the city of Hawthorne, the plan included parking garages and office space to occupy the 35 acre strip of land on Hawthorne Boulevard. It was set into motion by Los Angeles designers Charles Kober Associates and developers Ernest Hahn Inc, Urban Projects Inc, and Carter Hawley Hale Properties, who formed the joint enterprise H, B-H associates. In anticipation of the $50 million retail mall, the city began construction in late 1974, tearing down a movie theater and a church to make room for the mall. In 1975, the Hawthorne Plaza Redevelopment received confirmation for three anchor department stores: JcPenneys (169,000 sq ft), Montgomery Ward (158,500 sq ft), and The Broadway (159,000 sq ft). (Source: Daily Breeze Blog)
With the exception of a few tenant stores opening in December of 1976, Hawthorne Plaza Mall made it’s grand opening to the public in February of 1977. According to the LA Times, the two story indoor mall was considered a “retail shoppers paradise” and catered to the growing middle class society of Hawthorne. Besides the three large department stores, the mall included many small retail shops and fast food stops that offered a utopian shopping experience at a discounted price. The mall prospered in its beginning years, however, it’s popularity slowly started to decline.
In 1979, Hawthorne mall suffered two shootings on it’s property, slowly damaging the “utopian” reputation that the mall originally generated. Though it still maintained a substantial presence in the Hawthorne community throughout the 80's, the opening of other malls in close proximity to the area like South Bay galleria and Manhattan Village started to raise competition, and the mall slowly began losing customers.
Beginning in the early 90s’ , the city was in 10.5 million dollars deficit due to fiscal management and economic downturn from the cutback of jobs in the aerospace industry, which had a huge effect on the amount of customers coming into the mall. The mall, already etched with a reputation for being crime-ridden and unsafe, lost even more of its customer attendance when it became a targeted spot during the LA Riots. Looters “ripped the mall to shreds,” breaking windows and tables, stealing what they can, and destroying everything in sight. What was once a perfect dream center for shoppers of Hawthorne, was now turning into an ugly nightmare.
In 1994, the number of stores dropped from a peak of 130 to 87, losing stores like Womans World, Sees Candies, Regal shoes, and B. Dalton Bookseller. In
an attempt to rescue the mall from closing, there were plans to reconstruct the mall into an outdoor shopping center and put in a 15 screen cinema to boost sales. Alas, these plans never fell through, and the malls market continued to drop beginning with Montgomery Wards as the first major department store to close. The Broadway Inc. was replaced by the Federated Department Stores, who installed Macys as a restoration for the anchor department store. However, this replacement was unsuccessful, and led to the closure of yet another anchor store. The last of the original anchor departments, JcPenneys, closed out in 1997 after sales continued spiraling downwards, leading to the ultimate closure of the mall in 1999 (Source: Hawaii Library).
Shortly after its closure, attempts were made in possibly revitalizing the mall, but all were unsuccessful. It’s vacant and dystopian empty space have provided key filming locations for movies like The Matrix (2000), Minority Report (2002), The Green Hornet (2005), Teen Wolf ( 2010) and Gone Girl (2014). Recently, in light of the new growing trend of Urban Exploration popularized by sites like Tumblr and Instagram, Hawthorne Plaza became a hot spot for photographers, skaters, and graffiti artists to explore.
Community | Steven Ebalobor
At the busy intersection of Hawthorne Boulevard and West El Segundo Boulevard stands a two-ton replica of the Falcon Heavy, coined the world’s most powerful rocket. Below it is a sign that reads “Hawthorne: The Cradle of Aerospace”. The replica pays homage to SpaceX, Hawthorne’s most
notable corporation. True, the city of Hawthorne is home to huge amounts of commercial spending on the research and development of aerospace technology, but other landmarks, particularly non-corporate landmarks, paint a better picture of the city itself. Just a block down from the 25-foot faux-Falcon is an aged and decrepit monument of the city. A 40-acre concrete behemoth sits on the corner of 120th and Hawthorne. The remnants of previously prosperous big-box department store sign is visible on the west-facing wall. Chain link fences adorn the outskirts of the property, while rebar and wooden frames jut out from a pile of rubble on the corner of the parking lot.
Arthur L. stands at the corner, wearing his security officer uniform, as he keeps a watchful eye on the outskirts of what remains of the Hawthorne Plaza Shopping Center. His nametag gleams in the warm and familiar Southern California Winter sunlight. When asked about the shopping mall, Arthur doesn’t say much. “It’s been closed for a couple years,” he guesses as he scratches his neck, exposing black tattoo script under his security shirt’s collar. The southwest portion of the mall has, in fact, been shut down since 1999. When asked about the city of Hawthorne as a whole, he is even more vague, “I don’t really know, I just work here.” No mention of the presumably booming aerospace industry.
Adjacent to the shopping center is a Popeye’s Chicken and a brick and mortar tobacco store called Gift and Tobacco. Inside the Popeye’s, a man
wearing high top Nike’s tries to pay for his meal with a crisp $100 dollar bill. When the cashier explains to the man that they cannot accept bills larger than $20, he lets out an exasperated sigh and exclaims “Anyone got five twenties?” Crickets. He walks out in search of another place to grab some lunch.
Next door at Gift and Tobacco, Badar is standing outside enjoying a cigarette. As an employee of the five year old smoke shop, he sees the parking structure of the Hawthorne Plaza Shopping Center from the window by the counter. He’s asked what he knows about the plaza. More crickets. After a couple seconds he shrugs and mutters, “I don’t know, but I heard somebody was shot there recently.”
For current community members, Hawthorne Plaza is just a huge, anonymous part of the city that has been blocked off since people could remember. Many Hawthorne natives drive by the buildings on their commutes and don’t even give it a second look. Young high school students sit on the benches nearby waiting to get picked up from school. For the parents that pick them up, and for many other older community members, Hawthorne plaza stands as a constant reminder of memories from a different time.
Lena Rose used to be an employee of the old 158,500 square foot Montgomery Ward department store. She reminisces about the times when the mall was still an active shopping center, and about how many quarters she wasted at the old arcade. A particular art installation at the mall, a statue of American “Faces of Greatness” remains ingrained in her memory when it stood in her favorite wing of the mall. For her, along with many other older Hawthorne residents, the mall was their fondest memory of teenage years, the face of Greatness, of sorts, for Hawthorne youngsters. Lena remembered the plaza when it was in its prime, in the early 80’s, when the wings were lined with various stores such as Orange Julius, B. Dalton Books, Miller’s Outpost, and Round Table Pizza. The plaza began its downturn more than 10 years later, when Montgomery Ward shut its doors for good in 1995. One by one, the surrounding stores closed down and the mall became increasingly abandoned. Almost simultaneously with increase in store closures came an increase in crime and hooliganism. In fact, according to City-Data crime rate information, the city of Hawthorne reached its highest crime rate in 2000, the year after the complete closure of Hawthorne Plaza.
For many natives, Hawthorne plaza stands as a symbol of the past. It is an image of carefree, younger years where one could spend free time and spare change at the Great Arcade. For others it is a piece of scenery that is mostly overlooked as people pass it on the way to school, or peer at it from outside their windows. However, for outsiders, Hawthorne Plaza has become an enigmatic symbol of urban decay and mystery. It has been the site of popular television shows and some Hollywood blockbusters. For artists, photographers, and adventurers who dare to sneak beyond the chain link fences that line the outskirts of the block, it is a huge and expansive destination for urban exploration. Though they may not know the history behind the 40-acre structure, they are still intrigued by its current state of dilapidation. Whether it is overlooked by locals or romanticized by outsiders, the Hawthorne Plaza Shopping Center still stands on the corner of 120th and Hawthorne as a landmark of Southern California.
Popularity and Use of Space
What’s Next | Lili Do
Currently, the state of the plaza is run down and its only occupants include rodents, birds, and local taggers. In recent years after the mall’s closure, the abandoned plaza has become a popular attraction for photographers, adventure seekers, and several filmmakers. However, the incoming foot traffic will most likely come to a halt in the near future as plans for the mall’s renovations begin to take place.
The future of Hawthorne Plaza is in the works and hopes to make a comeback within a few years. Planning Director, Gregg Mcclain, states that there are plans already in motion to bring retail back in the form of an outlet mall. He projects the mall should be completed within two years.
“The owner wants to make it high quality; around the caliber of Gucci and Armani” said McClain.
In 2013, there were talks of the mall becoming an office for SpaceX, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation. At the time, then Mayor Juarez, pushed to turn Hawthorne Plaza into SpaceX’s office and to create homes for its workers, according to Daily Breeze News.
However McClain confirmed the mall will be renovated. He also added that since the worn down structure was already used as a mall, a normal permit was not required and they did not need to go through the planning committee, which is usually the first and longest hurdle for building a new site.
Since the mall has been closed for about 16 years, it is strange that only now are there talks of making a come back. However, in the past, it was due to a change in ownership and the current owner not doing anything with the property because he could, said McClain. In terms of what the new mall will bring to a city like Hawthorne, he suggests there are three ways in which the mall will impact the city and its residents.
“First, the mall has been sitting there as a big empty reminder of failure and we want to change that so people feel proud of their city,” said McClain. “Second, it will serve as a catalytic force that will change downtown Hawthorne. Third, it will generate a lot of money through California’s sales tax.”
There has been overall support for the project. The only minor bump in the road was when a possible residential area was suggested, which in the past has shown when there is housing, there are higher crime rates, McClain said matter-of-factly. Furthermore, Hawthorne sits about a mile to two miles away from the 405 and Palos Verdes, making it already hard to get people to drive to it, so the plans for the mall is to make it different and unique to give people a reason to come.
Now that the city budget is balanced, the city of Hawthorne is already putting in 14 million dollars into renovating the streets in hopes of improving the area, which would eventually draw in more businesses and open more jobs in the area. This would bring in more tax dollars and improve the city overall.
As for the use of the mall for movie sets, McClain commented that although they will miss having movie productions take place, the mall will bring in even more revenue than the movies would have ever given them.
Hawthorne Plaza continues to stand today, remnants of the past still lingering inside and outside, yet a brighter future awaits the decaying mall.
