The documentary Secret Mall Apartment isn’t about what you think it’s about. Not quite. Yes, a group of eight artists lived inside a Rhode Island mall, completely undetected, for four years starting in 2003. However, it wasn’t a case of mere squatting. The mallmates all had permanent residences nearby, but when construction of the shopping center, the Providence Place, began, the artists (and future secret residents) were not nearly as enthusiastic as city leaders. Quite the opposite.
Let’s all build a mall
Providence Place opened in 1999 and was a bit of Johnny-come-lately in the world of urban shopping centers. In the early ‘90s, such malls were all the rage. Cleveland, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Columbus all opened one in their respective downtowns. Rhode Island’s capital city decided to jump on the bandwagon. Their entry was built on a former parking lot, but to encourage further development, many historic buildings in neighboring Eagle Square were razed, including many used by local artists.
As the girders went up and the concrete was poured, artist and teacher Michael Townsend noticed an odd nook on what would become one of the mall’s upper floors. After the center opened, one of its first marketing campaigns focused on the idea of living in the mall, a la line from Guadalcanal Diary’s very fine 1989 track, “Always Saturday.”
Not so welcome neighbor
Townsend and his fellow artists were intrigued. He organized a search party to find the space he had seen during the mall’s construction. Although it turned out to be hard to get to, they finally found it and promptly moved in. The idea wasn’t to find a new pad or hangout but simply to see if making an apartment inside the mall could be done and how far they could take it in terms of making it an actual living space. Indeed, all eight were working, sometimes with Townsend, on various projects in town and throughout the country. One such project honored those who lost their lives in New York City as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Providence Place Mall, Providence, RI (Leonardo Dasilva via Wiki Commons)
In the course of telling the tale, the artists reflect on the project as well as the urban development that it tried, and ultimately failed, to bring to their hometown. Personal drama plays into it as well. There’s also a re-enactment of how the space was finally discovered by mall personnel, courtesy of a reconstruction of the apartment in a Providence warehouse. Very cool. There’s also an exploration of the artists’ motivations and goals for the apartment project as it progressed. And yes, they did live in the apartment, so there’s that, just not as permanent residents. They still lived the dream, though, and this is a great look back at it.
The story is told
When word got out about the apartment project some years later, several directors approached the group about making a documentary. They resisted for years until they met with Jeremy Workman, and they certainly made the right choice. Stylistically, it comes together beautifully, although I still prefer a narrator to what I call “talky-docs.” But that’s just me. Ironically, one of the places the film was shown as it toured the country in 202was the Cineplex at Providence Place.
PF Wilson has been writing about music, TV, radio, and movies for over 20 years. He has also written about sports, business, and politics with his work appearing in Cincinnati CityBeat, The Houston Press, Cleveland Scene, Cincinnati Magazine, Cincy Magazine, Atomic Ranch, and many more. Check out his podcast PF’s Tape Recorder available from Podbean or in iTunes.