06/04/2026
Believe it or not, this was a mall that I used to go to, in downtown Richmond, Virginia. It opened in 1985 and was called the Sixth Street Marketplace. It included an enclosed steel bridge shoppers could cross over 2 lanes of traffic to reach the department stores. The bridge (as well as a parade I attended) were featured in Paul Simon's 1990 music video "Proof" (Chevy Chase and Steve Martin were also there!) This was a small Christmas parade and no one in the audience knew they were filming a music video that day, or that any of these famous people would be there. Most of the memories I have at this mall are with my parents at Christmas time. I saw the "Legendary Santa" (a Richmond tradition with a long history) at the Miller & Rhoads department store along with the Snow Queen and Bruce the Spruce. It was beautiful during the holidays. The mall stores and food court were really cool too, with fancy tile floors and lots of 80’s neon. Another interesting fact is that it was connected to the historical Blues Armory building (the brick part with upside down looking turrets). The bottom floor of it was used for restaurants and retail space. The "Mr. Bojangles" was a 3 floor, 14,000 square feet, night club named after Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, a famous tap dancer, actor and singer born in the Jackson Ward neighborhood, very close to this mall location. By the early 2000's the only functioning section left was the food court, which was mainly utilized by area workers on lunch break. In 2003 the food court closed and the building has sadly remained defunct ever since. The steel bridge was removed that year as well. The mall didn't even make it to 20 years. Several urbexers have explored this place in past years and I was hoping to as well, however when I went here, formerly accessible entrances were sealed and there was a chain link fence around everything. I took pictures and some video clips of the outside, as well as the abandoned Richmond Coliseum event space next door. Lots of memories there as well. I can put the video clips together and post them if anyone is interested.
