Milwaukee’s Northridge Mall demolition; final look inside

MILWAUKEE - For years, city leaders begged people to stay away from the vacant Northridge Mall.

On Monday, July 1, they invited our cameras inside to get one final look before demolition.

Through shattered glass, torn down ceilings and moldy floors, cameras captured the inside of Northridge Mall one last time.

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"It's sad to see it go," said David Tremaine. "My first job was right here at the movie theater. I was 16-17."

It's a building that has held on to memories since its closure in 2003.

Portions of the property have been redeveloped as standalone retail stores. Other areas have been left to deteriorate.

"It’s a real health and safety issue," Milwaukee project manager Benji Timm said.

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After a long legal battle with the mall's former owner, the city gained control of the entire site in January 2024.

"The demolition phase will take approximately a year," Timm said. "We opened a bid a week or so ago. We hope to get the project underway this summer."

After demolition, this will be the largest piece of land available in the city, at 50 acres.

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Still no decision on what will happen to the space after that. But city leaders say for the first time in a long time, they can talk about Northridge Mall with excitement.

"The reason I do what I do is to create new opportunities for the City of Milwaukee," Timm said. "So it was the mall, it had its time and place and now in the future, it'll be something new and it will create new memories for somebody else."

The city wants to hear your ideas about the future of the Northridge Mall property.