1989 Forest Fair Mall Cincinnati Opening
Vložit
- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- Mini doc with rare footage on the 1988 building and early '89 grand opening of a huge ambitious mall in suburban Cincy, it fell on hard times just a year or two later, was remodeled a couple times to no avail and sadly closed for good last year in 2023
Man, I remember this place in its glory days. Growing up, my family didn't have a ton of money for things like vacations and traveling. To us vacation was a day at King's Island (Mostly because my dad's work used to give everyone free admission passes for their employees and their families.) So every year while other kids were going to Florida for spring break, my parents would use whatever spending cash they saved to take me, my three sisters, and my best friend to Forest Fair Mall and turn us loose in the arcade/amusement park area. We'd play games, ride the carousel, play mini golf then have lunch at the food court and end the day wandering the mall. And the best part was that we were each allowed to buy a toy or book or trinket of our choosing as a "souvenir". It was such a simple outing, but God, it was such blast! I looked forward to it every spring.
Oh my goodness I think I might cry because this is the best footage of the OG mall I’ve ever seen. Thank you so so much for uploading this ❤
This might be the greatest time warp to 1989 ever shared.
1:32 The kinetic sculpture 'Ball Game'. No footage of it was said to exist!
It was bonkers that something in many people's memories hadn't been filmed much. But these were the days without camera phones I guess.
Oh yes. Now I need the sound of it. Always echoing off the walls every 20 minutes
There was a matching one or exact replica of it at COSI, I believe. If not there, Indy kids museum.
It's shown at least 3 times in this and I'm not even half way through.
@@MrJadePinwheel czcams.com/video/89f6oROD3tU/video.htmlsi=ZaMYVDrDkI2Vc3qv
I grew up in Cincinnati...I was 9 when this opened. I'm gonna cry 🥹❤️ So many wonderful memories here. Does anyone remember when Double Dare TV show came through? Great video btw 🥳
I had to check this out because I just drove around its decaying ruins. I would have loved to checked this out, about the same age. This looks like it blew Dayton Mall away.
Sound Track:
0:18 The Wiz LIVE! - A Brand New Day
1:17 Bigger Than Life (specially made)
2:06 Cher - Shoppin’
3:30 Adam Francis Routh - Positivia.
5:01 Buster Poindexter - Hot Hot Hot
8:05 Stephen Hurd - We're Gonna Have a Good Time?
10:13 The Pointer Sisters - I'm So Excited!
The piano player as you entered Parisian was very nice and the disco cinema lobby was fabulous. The end of malls was on the not so distant horizon.
This is one of the most amazing videos I have stumbled across recently on CZcams - thank you for sharing this. I was 7 years old when this mall opened and came here frequently with my family in the early years of the mall's success, along with other malls in the area such as Tri-County and Northgate. So many fond memories and so many things I forgot about until the video showed clips of it: The grand walkways with all of the incandescent bulbs in rows, the TimeOut signage in the center court (with the strobe lights!), bumper cars, mini golf, skee ball, the pond game with the frogs . . . shopping at Biggs for my first bike and SNES gaming system. Watching movies at the Super Saver Cinema with the amazing red and blue strobing neon lighting on the glass block facade . . . watching the kinetic sculpture over and over again with all the billiard balls and basketballs (I can still hear all the chimes/dings in my head) . . .fountains everywhere in the center court, eating at the original BW-3 in the food court, video games at Electronics Boutique. It was a magical place for a young kid and I am glad that the mall existed for my youth despite its terminal flaws from the beginning. I had the privilege of visiting the mall one last time in the fall of 2022 - It was haunting and exhilarating to walk through that behemoth one last time - once grand and now a shell of itself riddled with damage, water leaks, mold and vandalism. Again, thank you for posting this video - absolutely amazing footage and a great find for those of us with fond memories of this destination.
I'd love to find pics of the Little Professor book store that was there for awhile. I worked there part time in 1994.....most fun job I ever had!
This is one of the greatest finds!!! WOW!!!
Game arcade , Movies , Grocery Shop . This was a one stop shop
I love love love this. Back to my youth. I cried when I saw this.💖💖
Sad that this mall just sitting there empty now😪. I remember our HS after prom was there in 93
Made my day. I worked at Spencer’s & met who would later be my husband. I was 16 when I started & working at that mall was a blast. Then I worked for mall customer service & when Cartoon Corner stopped paying rent (around 95/96?, probably the beginning of the end) we went in & marked all of their stuff cheap to make back their rent money. So many memories I have of this place & not much you can find online. Thanks for this!
This is fantastic, I have wanted to see more of what the mall looked like before the Mills took over!
It’s crazy how packed it was. Now it’s an empty shell rotting away.
I was a bartender at that opening; through Benson's Catering (still operating BB Riverboats, Cincinnati). I remember the formality of the opening. All service staff were wearing tuxes / dresses, and the meal for 500 was prime rib, baked potatoes and broccoli. The deserts arrived in an escalator parade, with lit sparklers on top. The main "act" was Marie Osmond and one of her small children. It was open-bar, lots of suits. The shared-tip wasn't worth the hassle.
Too bad it has been empty for such a long time and probably in disrepair now.
It's slated to be torn down by the end of the year.
@@natalielsctheyve been saying that for the past 3 years lol
Bro, this video's poppin' off!
The mall's decline also led to the bankruptcy of the mall's developer, as well as Bonwit Teller. Some of the stores there closed within months of opening. Probably the fastest dying of a mall on record.
Kohls is the only store that’s open at the mall. Bass pro shop just closed
A great find! This is amazing
8:23 So many memories of the excitement of that first visit and watching my folks visiting from Montana in disbelief. I just came across the photos they took from there. Thanks for sharing this trip with some great memories.
Oh my goodness gracious I was a little baby when this mall opened wow.
Man. I was 18 and leaving for the Army when that place was opening. What a time warp.
I loved that mall as a 90s kid
11:29 May be the most cars I've ever seen at that mall. Like, I think there were more cars there that 1 day than all the days combined for the last 5 years.
terrible video, i loved it
I grew up shopping at that Biggs. So many memories! What a great find!
I wonder who the singers are? Someone on another video mentioned they might’ve been performers from Kings Island.
I grew up stealing cartons of cigarettes from there🤔
It's hard to find much online about it but here's what one musician said years ago in a post "Always loved producing "The Swing Sisters" with Dawn, Nicole, Kathy and Jason-music of Andrews and McGuire Sisters. We got to sing during performances with The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in Blue Ash and The Guy Lombardo Orchestra at Forest Fair Mall as well as the Opening Cincinnati Goes to War Exhibit at Union Terminal" I'm not sure if they were referring to this or a performance done later on.
It's a shame that this mall was so ill-conceived and mismanaged. It never had a chance, but it was so beautiful! My family enjoyed it a lot!
This place didn't have a very long heyday
I remember walking through it in the early 1990s
It was mostly empty by then.
That mall was great for some time and then went downhill fast.
Fairfield/Forest park thugs👎
What a bomb - like Randall Park, Century III, Pittsburgh Mills, American Dream & Owings Mills - never should have been built
Being built between Tri County and Northgate was a big mistake
This is AMAZING! Thanks so much for uploading!!!
I remember the big problem that nobody expected was all the epileptic seizures people would have down by the Super Saver Cinema. There were these lights behind glass block that would flash on and off in sequence. They had the lights turned off for a while , then they just posted a warning sign and called it good.
Expensive leases ended it. Retailers couldn't keep up with the rent. The lingerie store was my favorite place, #2 arcade, #3 food court!😂😂 and Biggs.
Oh My Gawd - those poor singers and dancers! - The Musicd Loving Klingon (Who lives in Cincinnati...)
you just casually found the library of alexandria.
This place should never have been built. Hooker literally bought half of the department stores so they could force them to open locations at the mall. Aside from Bigg's and Elder-Beernam, most Cincinnati residents had never heard of the anchors. Plus the demographics of Forest Park and Fairfield didn't support opening up so many higher end retailers.
And it was so close to already existing Tri County mall.
I don’t think the mall itself was a bad concept but I have no clue why they didn’t pick a different location. The area was already well served by two successful malls and this one wasn’t suited for the demographics.
I was there day one then i was there at the end of the mall
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Biggs open around 1985/86 and the Mall was built around it? I seem to remember going there to Biggs and it was just that single floor. There were some stores outside of Biggs, a record store, some other stores and a McDonalds at the other end. I woul have been 11 or 12 at the time.
Hmmm. I wonder why there was an epic commercial real estate crash in 1990...for several years prior, easy money was being thrown at mindless office towers and duplicative shopping malls like this one.
Imagine they made several different jingles for a mall. 😂 Did they ever sell the soundtrack.
Sound Track:
0:18 The Wiz LIVE! - A Brand New Day
1:17 Bigger Than Life (specially made)
2:06 Cher - Shoppin’
3:30 Adam Francis Routh - Positivia.
5:01 Buster Poindexter - Hot Hot Hot
8:05 Stephen Hurd - We're Gonna Have a Good Time?
10:13 The Pointer Sisters - I'm So Excited!
“Bigger than life.”
Oh no 😂😂😂
Taking it to church! Forest Fair: Bigger Than Jesus
Is that Up With People? I think the developer ended up in prison, BTW.
I drive past the mall every day. It’s a run down, deteriorating blight on the community. They tried to revive it in the early 2000’s which proved to be unsuccessful. Malls are never coming back. Tear it down and build something useful on the property, like a new jail for the county.
Ironic it might still be here if Cincinnati made better use of jails.
@@KaffeeSpot Lol, funny you say that. My parents grocery shopped at that Bigg’s and my Dad had the hub caps stolen from his new Corolla in the middle the afternoon in their parking lot. That was in the mid 90’s.
The mall really went downhill in the late 90s lots of gang activity. No longer a place you wanted to take your family.
Care to share more negativity?
I think the state has earmarked $7m for demolition.
This mall should never have been built
Winton woods ended it.
LJ hooker is a Australian owned real estate company