Two Malls and The U̶n̶s̶o̶l̶v̶e̶d̶ SOLVED “Ball Sculpture” Mystery
This post is a bit more casual. Current events somewhat pushed it to the front of my queue. I’d love to be a bit more detailed and go more in-depth, but the truth is—I’ve done so on here before and I’ve got something I’m pretty excited about coming down the pike. So, stick with me for a moment, while I quickly address three subjects of suburban legend.
UPDATE - 7/16/22 -A couple things have changed since this post was originally made on March 24, 2022. While the photographs here date from the Summer of 2021, a full update on the Tri-County Mall’s closure (with updated photography) was posted on July 14, 2022.
Forest Fair Mall / Cincinnati Mills / Cincinnati Mall / Forest Fair Village
What’s technically known as Forest Fair Village…
…previously known as Cincinnati Mall…
…and before that: Cincinnati Mills…
…and originally: Forest Fair Mall.
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This mall occupies the gray matter of many Cincinnati locals. It’s been covered extensively on this website before, specifically under the site’s former life as Queen City Discovery.
“Portrait of a Dead Mall” - A 2009 piece from when the mall was in the midst of one of its multiple death throes. At the time it was certainly fading, but much better off (in terms of physical structure and active tenants) than it is today.
“Black Friday in Retail Purgatory” - a 2015 piece that dives into the history of the mall and how it came to be the icon it is now.
“Checking in on an Old Friend” - a quick 2019 followup looking at the status of the mall.
We’re now entering a period of time where the generational memories of this mall differ greatly. If you’re like me (or older than me)—born at the very end of 1980s and having grown up in the 1990s/early 2000s—you’ve seen this mall rise and fall several times. If you’re younger, however, your experiences of this mall may have always been of its current languishing state (and featuring the wonderful Arcade Legacy).
In the summer of 2021, I returned to make a few more photographs and write about this place once more:
One entrance overgrown with weeds and featuring noticeable wear on the roof.
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The former Media Play.
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Closed off parking garage.
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The former Burlington Coat Factory.
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Worn entrance.
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The mall’s escalators haven’t operated in years.
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The mall’s current look stems from the early 2000’s renovation by the Mills Corp.
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The two remaining anchor tenants, Kohl’s and Bass Pro Shops, are not actually accessible from within the mall. Their doors have been sealed.
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Worn carpet.
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Leaks in the mall’s skylights have led to numerous buckets being placed throughout.
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The images were made to accompany a piece I authored for Belt Magazine’s upcoming “Cincinnati Neighborhood Guidebook.” I’m really excited to share that publication and all of the various work from the many contributors (and editor Nick Swartsell) once it officially drops, but in the meantime—there’s been some news about the withering mall on the border of Fairfield and Forest Park just north of Cincinnati.
UPDATE - 7/16/22 - Belt’s “Cincinnati Neighborhood Guidebook” is now available for preorder and will officially be out in December 2022.
Per the February 24, 2022 edition of the Journal-News: Butler County officials have applied for state funding that would finance the mall’s demolition. The article goes into detail about the situation, including what might become of existing tenants Kohl’s and Bass Pro Shops, but Arcade Legacy isn’t mentioned. However, WKRC Channel 12 recently ran a story on that beloved, local business searching out a new location.
As far as I can tell, this current demolition proposal seems to have the most momentum of any recent redevelopment efforts for the land. Will it happen, though? Who knows. I’ve been hearing about plans to repurpose this mall/land since I was a child who grew up down the street and bought Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 from the complex’s Media Play.
UPDATE - 7/16/22 - Arcade Legacy has announced that they will be relocating their business to nearby Sharonville, Ohio at the end of the 2022 summer. As of this update, there has been no more news on any demolition plans for the mall.
In the meantime, the mall seems to still be open and I can’t recommend visiting enough. Whether you knew the place personally or not, the notion of a “dead mall” is a ubiquitous experience and frankly—the building in its current state says a great deal about our society and culture. Despite the “dead mall” label, it’s quite literally a living piece of history in its current moment.
Fair warning: it’s been my experience that the mall isn’t particularly keen on photographs or tourism. Although they should probably just embrace it at this point, the security folks are just doing a job. If you visit, be respectful and be sure to go play “Windjammers” at Arcade Legacy.
UPDATE - 3/25/22 - One day after I made this post, something awesome popped up on the Cincinnati Subreddit via user “u/zetsuboushitaaa” and YouTuber uploader “the7ak3:”
When Belt’s “Cincinnati Neighborhood Guidebook” debuts, I’ll be sure to post about it. In addition to my writing on Forest Fair Village (née Cincinnati Mall (née Cincinnati Mills (née Forest Fair Mall)))—my upcoming piece also covers…
Tri-County Mall
Former foliage space surrounded by empty storefronts.
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Just a few exits down the highway from the previously discussed Forest Fair, Tri-County had a much different history. It’s one of the (many) things that prevented Forest Fair from ever finding true success. Well established before its neighbor showed up, Tri-County thrived well into the early 2000s before facing a decline of its own. Its story, however, is more akin to the “usual” tales that surround the demise of mall culture rather than the often bizarre and entertaining tale of Forest Fair. In the summer of 2021, I also photographed this mall for the upcoming Belt Magazine piece:
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Despite being vastly empty, Tri-County is still in great physical shape.
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The former food court with all of its tenant spaces boarded up and seating removed in favor of children’s rides.
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I truly love these bannisters.
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Tri-County holds some personal memories for me. It was one of the local malls I grew up going to and I worked at the Hot Topic there for a bit (District Employee of the Month two months in a row circa 2006/2007).
RIP Hot Topic.
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On March 8, 2022, it was reported in The Cincinnati Enquirer that the property was sold in anticipation of a large redevelopment. There are several proposed components/features and the City of Springdale is expected to produce a final plan later in the year. Whatever may become of the site (my story on “The Continent” in Columbus offers a cautionary tale about “lifestyle centers”), it seems as if the Tri-County mall of yore is truly creeping towards its end.
UPDATE - 7/14/22 - Tri-County Mall did end up officially announcing a Spring 2022 closing date and has now completely closed in anticipation of redevelopment. I paid the place a final visit on its last weekend and an update the shopping center’s story is available here.
Again, a story about this mall will appear in the upcoming “Cincinnati Neighborhood Guide” from Belt Magazine.
So, one last thing…
The Forest Fair Mall Ball Sculpture
Look, no matter who you are or where you come from in this country, odds are you’ve got some memories of a mall that is no more. Most of us can probably wax nostalgic for hours about how “X store used to be at X mall,” but when it came to my past stories on Forest Fair Mall—there was always one common thing that came up amongst readers: the ball sculpture.
“Ball Game” was the artistic creation of George Rhoads, one of his “audiokinetic sculptures.” You can still find examples of Rhoads’ work around the country (I came across one at Logan Airport a few years back), but the fate of Forest Fair’s custom piece remains a mystery.
Sculptor George Rhoads with one of his “audiokinetic” sculptures. While similar to the one Forest Fair Mall once had, the piece featured above is different.
Image via Wikipedia
Featuring pool balls rolling over xylophones and a Ferris wheel-esque structure that rotated above—I can still hear the sounds of the thing in my head. When Forest Fair became “Cincinnati Mills” in the early 2000s, the sculpture disappeared.
One night recently when I was unable to sleep, I took a quick look through newspaper archives trying to find out what happened to it (or if I could simply just find a photograph of it).
Per The Cincinnati Enquirer on the 28th of March 2003, the mall’s owners were looking to give away the sculpture just as the renovation into “Cincinnati Mills” loomed. “Our hope is to find an organization that will provide a good home for this wonderful piece of art and continue to make it freely accessible to members of the community to enjoy and learn from,” the mall’s property manager told the paper.
One year later, however, on the 24th of March 2004, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the mall had no takers. “Apparently, the size and cost of moving the massive structure was a deterrent,” wrote reporter Randy Tucker. Still looking to offload “Ball Game,” the mall’s owners were then planning to list the piece on an auction website with proceeds of the sale being donated to the Shriners Burn Institute.
Via the Internet Archive’s “Wayback Machine,” one can still find the auction listing for the sculpture (although, sadly, none of the images remain). The Michael Angelo Auction Company [EDIT: I just got that pun while re-reading this] touted “Ball Game” this way:
“There has never been a Audio Kinetic Sculpture of this size and value. "Ball Game", a George Rhoad's original, has an estimate[d] value of $250,000…”
The auction listing went on to tout how the structure stood “30 feet tall,” required “little maintenance,” could disassemble “easily into 8 pieces,” and “took 1 1/2 years to complete.” This blurb sums up the nostalgic piece perfectly:
“Billiard balls roll in a spiraling maze over a melodic xylophone and down the hand formed metal track until they encounter a break in the track. Instantly, the billiard balls are launched into the air perfectly arcing in mid flight and land precisely on another section of metal track. In a clever twist of the tracks, the billiard balls are carried through a series of more turns and curves and return to the spiraling maze in which the motions of rolling, playing the xylophone, launching air born, and landing on the exact spot repeats.”
Did anyone buy it? Well, at the time of the aforementioned Enquirer article’s publishing: in-person bidding (at a building in the suburb of Evendale) had been open for nearly a week with 0 bids placed.
So what the hell happened to “Ball Game?” I reached out to George Rhoads’ studio years ago, but even they were never sure what became of the sculpture. So, I’ll send out the appeal once more: Do you know what happened to it? Get in touch!
Maybe, just maybe, the sculpture is still sitting in storage somewhere—like the Ark of the Covenant at the end of “Raiders.”
To quote Robert Stack from “Unsolved Mysteries:”
“Perhaps YOU can help solve a mystery.”
…queue that iconic, eerie music.
And seriously, if you know where that ball sculpture went—please let me know.
UPDATE - 7/16/22 - The mystery has been solved thanks to several kind people who wrote in with information. So, here’s where things stand right now.
Reader David Walsh (and his sister) in the comments below pointed out rumors that the sculpture still existed in storage somewhere in Tucson, AZ.
As it turned out, the rumors were true and thanks to the “Rolling Ball Sculpture” group on Facebook, some more information was learned. The mall’s former Rhoads piece is currently being restored by Creative Machines, INC of Tucson, AZ. The following photographs were shared via the aforementioned Facebook group, specifically via the kindness of member Trenton Maddux:
Photographs courtesy of Trenton Maddux.
…these photos are great and the news was wonderful to hear (hopefully one day there’ll be an update regarding the sculpture coming back to life), but there’s yet another cool bit of news to share.
Reader and friend Denny Gibson shared this recollection in the below comments:
“…I recall a Smithsonian Magazine article on an artist (apparently George Rhoads) who built kinetic sculptures and was just completing one for a Cincinnati mall…”
“…I didn't remember its name any better than I remembered the name of its creator. The article would have been published within a year or two of 1980. I believe it was just a few months ahead of the piece being installed at the mall….”
As it turns out, Denny has an amazing memory. Thanks to the info he provided, I was able to swing by the Cincinnati / Hamilton County Public Library and start searching. The fantastic library staff was able to not only find the correct issue of Smithsonian Magazine, but within in a few minutes they had it in my hands to scan.
It’s probably not cool to post the entire article online, but to be fair—none of it really mentions the mall or “ball game.” It is a great profile of the late, talented George Rhoads, however. There was one thing in that old magazine’s pages, though, that stuck out:
Digital scan of the October 1988 issue of Smithsonian Magazine. Photograph is credited to Wayne Sorce.
The caption accompanying the photograph read:
“Rhoads and Bob McGuire discuss trajectory of balls in piece destined for Forest Fair Mall, Cincinnati.”
Thanks, Denny, for helping me track down this image and article. It’s a great photograph even if it doesn’t show the full scale of the sculpture. Hopefully, one day, more photographs will surface or we’ll see the sculpture born again by the folks in Tucson.
Keep an eye out for “The Cincinnati Neighborhood Guidebook” coming soon from Belt Magazine and if you’ve got memories of these malls (or malls in general), share them in the comments below.
Back with more soon.
P.S. Whether you hail from Cincinnati or not, the 2015 story of “Forest Fair” is one of my favorites.
Since 2007, the content of this website (and its former life as Queen City Discovery) has been a huge labor of love.
If you’ve enjoyed stories like The Ghost Ship, abandoned amusement parks, the Cincinnati Subway, Fading Ads, or others over the years—might you consider showing some support for future projects?
