Ever wonder what happens to old malls...ones that sit for a while before they are razed?

As a teenager one of my favorite places to go was Penn Can Mall. It was one of the best malls in the Syracuse area until a super-regional mall opened in 1991. So, I went sent searching for info on the old Penn Can (short for Pennsylvania-Canada due to it's location along Interstate 81).

Found someone who built a tribute page (they even registered the domain)...with video stills from the late '80's when they took a camera to the mall. Also included are photos from their trip around the "dead" mall. It looks like a ghost town.

Also...I found a page call DeadMalls.com. I'm pretty certain you can look up your favorite malls from your youth; they might be listed. After some searching it seems that a lot of the malls in Syracuse are dead or dying. However, based on the area population, there always seemed to be too may malls.

I'm sort of interested in what happens to old malls. It's nice when they can be re-used for other purposes. Little Rock purchased one and turned it into a police station and jail. Often other Big Box retailers will move in. It seems that Penn Can Mall has transformed into some type of auto mall. Most of the mall was razed but the anchor stores were converted into indoor auto showrooms (not a bad idea considering the Syracuse winters).