Wonderland Mall, Livonia, Michigan

The Wonderland Mall in Livonia, Michigan was built in 1959 with Montgomery Ward as the anchor store. Originally built as an outdoor mall, it was enclosed in the 1980s. In 2003, the Wonderland Mall was closed and soon met with the wrecking ball, demolished to make way for a "power center" with several major store surrounded by restaurants. Click here to view historical photos of the mall, photos of the empty mall prior to demolition, as well as photos of the demolition process and remaining rubble.

Eastown Theater, Detroit, Michigan

Another great set (as always) from DetroitFunk features the Eastown Theater. How majestic and gorgeous this place must have been in its heyday, and how sad it is now. It started out as a home for stage productions, hosted a bunch of rock shows (including Alice Cooper), and ended its life in the 1980s after a run as an adult movie house. There are multiple sets of photos of the theater on the website; check out another one here.

United Artists Theater, Detroit, Michigan

The United Artists Theater opened in February of 1928, taking its place as one of the city's opulent movie houses of the era. Today, most of these theaters that remain standing have been renovated, however the UA stands abandoned in a forlorn state of decay, constantly worsening from the elements and vandalism.

There are many great photos of the theater at Forgotten Detroit, along with a complete history of the building.

Starlight Lanes, Detroit, Michigan

DetroitFunk, one of my favorite places to look at decaying Detroit, has a haunting and beautiful set of photos depicting Starlight Lanes, an abandoned bowling alley. It is located in Royal Oak Township, just across 8 Mile from north central Detroit.

Sadly, this is just another building in Detroit. Entire blocks, even entire neighborhoods, lay in this state of repair. I recently read an article about the state of Detroit and its plague of vacancies. I don't want to throw out any numbers because I don't recall exactly (I will have to look them up again for another post), but all of the statistics were pretty staggering.

Click here to see the complete set of photos.