Macon Mall celebrates 50 years, mall-goers remember its heyday

Black-and-white photos stretch across the walls of the Macon Mall on Eisenhower Parkway. Each floor of the once bustling shopping center depicts snapshots of Macon’s history, from an 1894 photo of City Hall to pictures of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s campaign visit to Macon in 1964.

The grainy photos harken back to a city landscape unfamiliar to most folks nowadays, but some longtime Maconites still remember in vivid detail what was once a popular shopping and community hub. 

“The mall was that town square for an entire generation,” said Alex Morrison, Bibb County’s director of planning and public spaces nd executive director of the Urban Development
Authority.

The Macon Mall, once one of the largest in the state, celebrates its 50th anniversary this month. 

The expensive shopping center’s opening in 1975 diverted customers and major businesses such as Belk and Sears from Westgate Shopping Mall, which opened on the corner of Pio Nono Avenue and Eisenhower Parkway more than a decade earlier. Downtown Macon was faded out as the retail hotspot.

The 1.7 million-square-foot Macon Mall attracted residents from all over in its heyday. The 5,500 car parking lot was a maze on the weekends and the escalators constantly brought folks up and down the multi-level shopping center. 

Those escalators are now blocked off. Cars no longer squeeze into the parking lot. 

Just as the Westgate Mall’s presence dwindled with the rise of a new and shiny location, the Macon Mall eventually fizzled as The Shoppes at River Crossing lured retailers north.

While a few retail stores still open their doors to customers, the Macon Mall has become home to the county’s board of elections office, the regional commission and the planning and zoning commission. 

Locals sporting activewear and headphones still use the nearly vacant mall to get their daily steps in. Others grab a bite to eat at Ole Times Country Buffet on the second floor.

Kaylee Delong and Tony Williams started coming to the mall regularly a few weeks ago.

It’s not a hub for young people anymore, Williams, 17, said. He remembers when his parents used to frequent the mall. 

“All the stores are gone,” Delong said, digging into a plate of Chinese food from the nearly empty food court. 

A few years ago Williams might have seen more folks his age, but not now, he said. His generation is more likely to hang out at the movies. 

The place to be

Macon native Amber Artman recalled coming to the Macon Mall every weekend and remembers a time when kids would circle what they wanted in the Sears catalogue, then go to the mall to pick up the items on their wishlist. 

During the holiday season, lines spilled out the door and Artman came to the mall to see Santa and his live reindeers.

“This was the place to go to when you were younger,” she said. 

The space which once boasted a packed food court and a since-removed carousel, is a ghost town, according to Artman who said she believes crime is a major reason for the mall’s decline. 

“To see it now is heartbreaking,” she said. “I’d really like to see it built back up.”

Abraham Rouse came to the mall on a recent Tuesday to get his phone fixed. Though he doesn’t come often anymore, he’s no stranger to the Macon Mall. He used to take his wife and three children a few times a month and remembers dining at a place called Morrison’s. 

The mall had lots of different people and “a pretty good atmosphere,” the 79-year-old from Twiggs County recalled.

What’s next for the mall?

The Macon Mall is experiencing a decline in retail spaces felt by shopping centers nationwide, Morrison said. The recent shift towards downtown spaces and urban centers also contributed to the downfall of retail shopping centers. 

Recent efforts by the county have focused on bringing more office tenants and agencies to the mall.

“It’s all about getting people back into the space,” Morrison said. “Even if it’s not going to be exactly like it was before.”

Rhythm & Rally, a 32-court pickleball facility opened in 2024, has exceeded expectations in attracting new traffic to the area, he said. 

Morrison called the Atrium Health Amphitheater, which opened the same year, a “wonderful beacon for our community.” 

These new attractions will help bring the excitement and hubbub of “Christmas time in 1987” back to the space, he said. 

These improvements are part of a broader shift towards revitalization for the Macon Mall, which comforts some locals who hope for a second life for the storied shopping center. 

“It brings you hope that your city is fixing to be built back up,” said Artman, who used to bring her kids to the mall in a double stroller. 

She said she hopes to bring her grandkids someday, too.