CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — It's been about a month now since the demolition of Sunrise Mall first started and crews continue to make progress.
As we have reported, city leaders said the property's new owner has big plans that include high-rise housing, hotels and other possible commercial development.
3NEWS caught up with a couple of folks who shared their memories of the mall's rise and fall.
Piles of ruble and twisted beams now make up the core of what was once the Sunrise Mall.
Patricia Figueroa stopped by on her bicycle for one last look.
"It was the coolest mall in high school, everyone hung around," she said. "It was the second mall, mom dropped you off at the movies."
Maybe it was catching your favorite band during Domingo Live in the mall's court, or perhaps it was that trip to the dollar theater.
"You can see the windows where I bought Terminator 2 tickets when it came out," resident John Wood told 3NEWS, pointing to the rubble.
For those who grew up walking the mall with friends, the memories are something that can't be torn down.
"I do remember running from my mom's flower shop tucked under the escalators. It was called Flowerama," Wood said.
He said as a kid, the mall was his very own playground, often sneaking away while his mom was busy with customers, so he could go to the KB Toy Store.
"There was a tall black skinny security guy, he would walk little Johnny back to Flowerama," he said. "Everybody in the mall knew me from the arcades to the cookie store would always have to return me back to base."
Wood said it was the mid-80s when his family first noticed things started to go south for the once-thriving mall.
With the Texas oil crisis he said retailers were forced to make up the cost for dwindling customers.
"Started seeing all the mom-and-pops going down, the box stores, Frost Bros packed up and moved out; and instead of them working with anybody or trying to be compassionate for the current situation, they basically doubled the rent on the remaining stores and that was cataclysmic," he said.
The mall continued to see anchor stores leave, and over the decades there were changes of ownership and revitalization attempts before the site was replaced by vagrants and vandalism.
The mall officially closed its doors for good in 2019.
"It was really a stake in the heart to see how bad somebody let something get so neglected and let go that had so much potential," he said.
Today, crews continue to demolish the inner part of the complex.
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Some of the outer locations owned by other businesses such as Little Woodrow's will remain as plans call for the redevelopment of the property.
"As much as I feel I have ties to the old mall, [it's] better to put something down and see something new thriving and prosperous and gives to our community instead of an eyesore at this point," he said.
As the walls come tumbling down the storied past of Sunrise Mall will still hold a permanent spot in the hearts of South Texans.
"I had never been in another mall like it," Wood said.