In Medellin, they did a similar thing with old downtown buildings. Some were quite narrow, but almost all were at least 5 floors tall. They interconnected them by cutting doorways between the various places, and opened what has to be the worlds largest "unknown" mall. One gets the feel of an explorer in there, ramps or stairs connect the odd floor heights to eachother, add in a few thousand people and it is downright fun. It has been named "El Waco" which translates "THE HOLE". Fitting since if it isn't a cavern, it does resemble an ant hill.
In Orange County? California, they have or had one created out of an old Hotel. It was the only GUY MALL I have ever seen. Instead of endless rows of stores selling shoes and bra's. This place featured sports and hobbys, They must have 40 or 50 stores, selling everything from sports clothes and equipment, to computers, games, models, art, tools, lawn and garden, BBQ, radio, crafts, electronics... the list just goes on and on. It too is packed and forget finding parking on the weekends.
I would love these guys to take it to the next step and not just do a mall, but break the mold. Do something unique and they won't have to beg for traffic. Certainly there must be a radio shack, computer store, game store, hobby shop, etc... just looking for a place to land.
Ocklawaha
