Standing inside ShoppingTown Mall in Dewitt, New York, it’s hard to believe that you aren’t in a haunted house. Outdated elevator music echoes through the empty hallways, birds nest in the abandoned food court, and most strikingly, there aren’t any stores left.

No, really. The latest mall directory lists 12 businesses, but that was in June, and there have been more departures since then, putting the number of operating stores in the single digits. So what is left in ShoppingTown Mall? A Regal Cinemas, a gymnastics studio in the former Old Navy, and a few ever-rotating driving schools that never seem to last more than a month. The last big-box store, Sears, closed in September, though the parking lot is still littered with “going out of business” signs.

To an onlooker, it may just seem like another mall past its prime. But for those of us who grew up in the area, the space means so much more. My parents’ first date was in the food court, I got my ears pierced in the old Claire’s, and countless kids had birthday parties in the arcade.

The night before I left for college, my friend Meghan and I went to ShoppingTown for one last visit. There’s not much to do near Syracuse, and we were feeling nostalgic, about to move away from home for the first time.

We were the only people in the mall aside from the security guards who informed us that there is “nothing left back here” when we tried to enter yet another desolate hallway. I found myself wondering how ShoppingTown could suffer such a fall from grace in such a short time.

Meghan Pexton in the empty ShoppingTown Mall food court. Maddy Heller, 2018

ShoppingTown Mall wasn’t always a ghost town. It opened in 1954, and at its peak had around 100 stores. Some of the biggest included Sears, JCPenney, Macy’s, and Dick’s Sporting Goods. The beginning of ShoppingTown’s downfall came with the opening of the nearby Carousel Center, later renamed Destiny USA, which expanded to become the biggest mall in New York state. The success of Destiny USA prompted a renovation plan for ShoppingTown as well, but it was canceled when the recession hit in 2008. The once-beloved mall never recovered, and most of the tenants moved to Destiny USA.

Moonbeam, the company that owns ShoppingTown Mall, is suing the county to stop it from seizing the property. Moonbeam hasn’t paid a single dollar in taxes since taking over the mall in 2014, according to the county, and currently owes $7.74 million.