The Northeast Portland mall, once lively, bright and bustling, now thought of as abandoned and desolate.
“The mall just isn’t what it used to be,” freshman Zoe Gonzalez said.
Without a doubt, Lloyd Center has changed. It’s not your typical run-of-the-mill shopping center anymore; it’s morphed into something new, and not for the reasons you’d assume.
Built over a half a century ago, the inner-city mall has been a pinnacle of the metro area since its opening. It is notorious for its famed ice skating rink, the first one built inside a mall, and one of only two rinks in the metro area. Naturally, ice skating, shopping and mall Santas became a childhood staple in every Portlander’s life.
“I loved the Lloyd center, but now I never go and don’t really know what’s going on with it,” freshman Eliza Sally said.
Visiting the mall today you will still smell the sweetly suffocating aroma of Joe Brown’s Carmel Corn, but immediately notice something different in the atmosphere. While the original sweet popcorn stall still stands, many of its neighbors are gone or new entirely.
When the 2020 pandemic hit, mall traffic slowed to a halt. But unlike other malls in the area that bounced back quickly, Lloyd Center struggled to regain its customers. Stores vacated, due to lack of foot traffic, it rendered the mall empty and open to new tenants. Rent being dirt cheap; small businesses brought liveliness back into the mall. Creating a community important to many, but unbeknownst to much of the public.
However, under new ownership, a plan was developed to demolish the mall and bring new life into it, likely changing it completely. The Future Vision of Lloyd Center plans to open up green space, new shops and roads, not only shifting the structure of the existing mall, but pushing out and replacing small businesses. The issue: existing tenants aren’t exactly ready to up and move.
Virtua Gallery exhibits art relating to technology. Since opening his gallery in 2023, owner Matt Henderson has witnessed life pouring back into the center.
“I think that we have something really special already in the existing structure that is Lloyd Center, and that opinion of mine is shared by a growing number of people,” Henderson said.
Everyday people of all different backgrounds spend time in the mall, participating in camps, clubs or just walking around.
“I really do see this pretty amazing sort of mixture of demographics at Lloyd Center,” Henderson said.
Henderson expressed that he isn’t opposed to the idea of using what is already there, such as the empty Nordstrom space being converted into a concert venue.
“I don’t think that we need to be so purist about as to say, don’t touch our mall,” Henderson said.
Many want to rent a storefront at the mall, but the mall isn’t getting back to them.
“I think the mall is strategically keeping the energy at bay, the sort of desire to see the mall revived in its current structure, they’re trying to suppress that,” Henderson said
According to Henderson, it goes without saying that the mall has a community that embodies the mantra: “Keep Portland Weird.” Henderson, along with other tenants of the mall, have made concise efforts in opposing the demolition, like their petition that is quickly gaining traction and is an excellent way for students to aid their cause.
The mall’s unique presence is indispensable and with the support of the community preservation is entirely possible.
