I found out later that this was Washington Square Mall.

I remember the large empty parking lots and the drab, dark brown brick. But most of all, I remember the large white tents, just like the ones at Denver International Airport. An impressive accessory to an umimpressive mall.

Washington Square Mall opened in 1963 as one of Indiana's first enclosed malls. It enjoyed success anchoring Evansville's center of retail activity during the sixties and the seventies until GGP opened Eastland Mall just to the north in 1981, shifting the city's retail core with it.

More than two decades later, Washington Square is barely holding on while Eastland flourishes in its location just up the street. The Sears location is one of the most successful in the midwest and a few stores remain in its corridor, but the rest of the mall is dead. The food court, under the tents, is modern and spacious... And empty. I think two places were open on my last visit in 2003.

The mall is not dark and musty, but decently lit and rather well maintained. The other anchor was last an Elder-Beerman but now sits vacant except for the occasional flea market or trade show, nothing permanent. The anchor facade was renovated in the hopes of attracting a replacement (it almost looks like a Dillard's to me.) But I have never heard of the mall calling it quits. There is no talk (as of this writing) of a total redevelopement. The new owners (Hahn) seem to be happy with Washington Square's status quo.

Links
-Information from Hahn Realty Corp.
-Information from Storetrax.com.
-Image from TerraServerUSA.com.
-Website for Eastland Mall.