Saturday, May 24, 2008

Old Towne Mall- Sign Then and Now

Here's a before and after shot of the famous Old Towne Mall. This photo shows roughly the same location of where the old sign stood. Not to complain, but the old sign sure was more interesting than the bland Torrance Promenade sign that stands there now.


Another view of the old sign, The entrance on the far right has changed only a little from how it was when this picture was taken. The glass window that goes up the wall is now still there as the front facade of Linens and Things. They added some more stucco, but compared to the rest of the mall, it's the closest to the original structure.


This photo has been slightly altered to match the previous picture better. Lets say some trees are here that block the view of the building, but they were removed from the photo. You can see the glass wall behind the facade. A little work, and some imagination, and the old entrance could be back to what it once was. The reason that they kept this one section so close to the original mall design, was because they tried to have that section as one last remaining area of the mall. The old Mann theater was where Linens and Things is now, and a food court with an arcade and Carousel remained for a short time after they closed Old Towne.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Couldn't find an email address for you Bob, but I have enjoyed your site after searching for Old Town Mall, I loved that place, I just remember a toy store and the fun surreal rides, I was born in 1970 and my memories are vague, It was sad one time when I went back and there really was nothing there, most stores had shut down.
I went through the rest of your site and enjoyed it, we come from a similar location and era. There were a couple things I expected to see, but you might remember these.
Lake Delores on the way to Las Vegas near a Stuckeys, and Cars Of The Stars which was a short lived museum in the late 70s early 80s in Buena Park. Keep up the great work.

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

I love the before and after pictures!
I remember Old Towne when I was a kid, and when I drive by today, part of me thinks That's just Old Towne in disguise
Sorta like when you can tell a building used to be a Taco Bell or a Pizza Hut because of its architecture.
I agree the Old Towne sign is better than it modern incarnation. Torrance is (or has been) persnickety about sign codes. Even if Old Towne survived, the sign have had to come down

So Cal Peeper said...

I used to watch the people play chess outside that store in Old Towne.


ah.