Comments on: Remembering Shopping Plazas in Florissant

By: admin

admin — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:18:10 +0000

Thom, the bowling alley is still in the basement of that same strip mall on New Halls Ferry. It amazes me that this is so, every time I drive by it.

By: Thom

Thom — Thu, 20 May 2010 12:44:25 +0000

It goes to show that when you grow up around a location such as the Plaza Madrid, you don’t even realize how out-of-place the architecture is. I may have driven by the location everyday in my youth and never thought twice about the uniqueness of the building. Now it stands out like a glorious sore thumb with all the uninspiring “shoppes” and “centres” built around the area. It has been years since I have been in the area. I also remember a small strip mall on New Halls Ferry with a bowling alley in the basement. I wonder if that is still around. That was a genius design…

By: Sheila in Brentwood

Sheila in Brentwood — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 03:56:01 +0000

Talk about memory lane! Toby, I worked at Plaza Madrid in the 1980′s, when the mall was still very much alive. I worked at a ladies only gym, which was in the corner behind the DQ. All of us would eat ice cream huddled in the back area out of sight of the customers! I also had a part time job at a unfinished furniture store in there- can’t remember it’s name. I loved the wide covered sidewalks- I think they had piped in music out there, too. I also remember the roof leaked like crazy. National was still there at that time.

By: Debbie

Debbie — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:56:54 +0000

Of course there’s malls all over SoCal that look like the Plaza Madrid so it would probably be disconcerting to see one in StL. Right now the trend is to remodel malls like this in the Craftsman style. The stucco and curved tile at both the centers where our local grocery stores, here in the lovely LaCrescenta Valley, were redone in “faux”(I hate to use fake) cedar siding and river rocks.