Demolition, Construction, New beginnings, the redevelopment of Lakeside.
Lakeside mall in Sterling Heights, Michigan has been a staple for the city since it opened in 1976. The mall houses over 180,000 square feet of shopping space for people to enjoy. The mall has housed numerous department stores and smaller stores over the years. However, in recent years the mall has become more or less a ghost town. It’s difficult to see more than a few people in the mall nowadays and the mall is full of empty retail space. The mall was purchased by Out of The Box Ventures, a Florida based company, and they have a plan to completely demolish the mall and redevelop Lakeside Circle. The plan consists of new housing, retail space, and restaurant areas.
“The place I enjoy the most at Lakeside would be like Auntie Anne’s because it’s just something that every mall has, and Lakeside doesn’t really have much else,” sophomore Lily Sheets said.
Lakeside mall has been a place for families to go to and visit stores, get a bite to eat, and have fun for a long time. However, in the current times there’s a lack of places to go leaving it with hardly any options for people visiting the mall.
“I won’t really miss going to the mall, but I think it will be weird once they demolish it and not seeing it there anymore,” junior Vianca Villarin said.
The mall doesn’t truly hold a place in many people’s hearts anymore, as people no longer truly visited the mall. However, everybody knows what it is and where it is, so it’s going to be odd for the community to adjust to the demolition and reconfiguration of the Lakeside Circle.
“One of my favorite memories at Lakeside was going there as a kid and going to the play place in the mall,” junior Aisha Bigger said. “I would go there with my family.”
Lakeside mall has been a staple of the city of Sterling Heights, but in recent years it’s become nothing more than a building. There’s a bright future ahead for the property where Lakeside currently sits for a project over the next 10 years.
