Project Lakeside Mall — Questionnaire

Visitor Questionnaire

We’re 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 a documentary about Michigan malls. We’d 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 your help.
EVERY STORY MATTERS.
TELL US YOURS.

STOP! Please read before you continue!

Please feel free to answer as many (or as few) questions as you can. You are doing a great favor to this project. Thank you very much!

This questionnaire is intended for people who visited the mall.

For a questionnaire intended for people who worked at the mall, please...

👉 Fill out our worker questionnaire!

Thank You!

- Project Lakeside Mall

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Last Updated: September 4, 2025

Section 1: Disclaimer
Please read the Disclaimer below.

Disclaimer

This is a free, non-profit project with no commercial gain. All interviews, whether written or video, are conducted on a voluntary basis. The purpose of this project is educational, historical, and entertainment-focused. The project seeks to preserve stories and insights for archival purposes.

The primary scope of the project is Lakeside Mall, a currently-closed, soon-to-be demolished, commercial and cultural icon.

However, we extend our scope to and encourage discussion of any shopping mall in the Detroit area or any in the State of Michigan.
Have you read, and agree to the "Disclaimer" above?*

Yes.

Section 2: Privacy Notice
Please read the Privacy Notice below.

Privacy Notice

1.  The intent of this project is to collect the minimum necessary details for survey use and inclusion in a video documentary. Details may include: Questionnaire Responses, and Personal Information.

2.  Personal Information: If you wish to remain private or anonymous, you are within your right to do so. You are doing a great favor to this project. You should mind your best interests before helping others.

3.  Contact Information: responses which shall be private and never public. This project will require at least one (1) response.

4. Definitions of key words:

• "anonymous": any Questionnaire Responses that you specify to remain disconnected from all Personal Information.

• "private": any Personal Information that you specify to remain disconnected from any or all Questionnaire Responses.

• "Contact Information": a telephone number, an email address, and/or a social network user name.

• "Personal Information": first name, age, and/or sex.

• "Questionnaire Responses": responses to questions.
Have you read, and agree to the "Privacy Notice" above?*

Yes.

Section 3: Consent Statement
Are you an adult (18 years of age or older)? Select "Yes". If your answer is "No", please stop and do not continue further. Otherwise, this questionnaire will be discarded.
Are you an adult?*

Yes.

Section 4: Personal Information
Why is this required? Please read the Privacy Notice above in Section 2.
Your First Name*
Your Last Name
Age*
Must be 18 years or older. Max: 121.
Sex*
Anonymity Notice (1 of 2)

The next time you will be asked is in Section 12.
Select which "Personal Information" responses to remain 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞:

First NameLast NameAgeSex

Section 5: Contact Information
Please provide Contact Information for at least one (1) of the following fields.
Telephone Number
Email Address

Confirmation EmailEnter and confirm.
Social Network Platform Name
Social Network User Name
If "Other", please specify:

Section 6: Choose Your Mall
1. Which 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 do you wish to talk about?
If you do not see your mall, please select "Other..." and specify.
1. (continued) If "Other", please specify:
2. How did you 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 about us?

Advertisement or FlyerNewsSocial MediaWord of mouthOther...

Section 7: Questionnaire (1 of 5): Introduction
1. What is the 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 thing which comes to mind, when you think of the mall?

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2. What is your 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 memory of the mall?

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3. What is your 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐭 memory of the mall?

0/2000

Section 8: Questionnaire (2 of 5): Perspective
1. How 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭 was the mall to 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 or 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬?

1

2

3

4

5

1 is Not Very, 5 is Very
2. When was your 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 visit to the mall? Were you at the mall at its 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠? What was the 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧? (𝘓𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 opened March 1976)

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3. What 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐝 of your life did you most frequently visit the mall? What 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞(𝐬)?

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4. When was your 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 visit to the mall? Were you at it's closing? (𝘓𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 closed June 2024).

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5 – 7. Lakeside: What do you recall or feel about 𝘔-59 (𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘙𝘰𝘢𝘥):

Author's Note: it was planned at one point that the M-59 freeway was to be extended past downtown Utica, past Clinton Township. It is a question if this would have benefited local traffic and made Hall Road easier to navigate.

Image below: South east corner of Hall and Schoenherr roads (1983). Source: Vintage Aerial. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
5. What do you 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 of or 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 about 𝘔-59 (𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘙𝘰𝘢𝘥): 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠, and 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 of the mall? Also, how has 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 of 𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘙𝘰𝘢𝘥 changed since?

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6. What do you 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 of or 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 about 𝘔-59 (𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘙𝘰𝘢𝘥): 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 the business years of the mall?

0/2000
7. What do you 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 of or 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 about 𝘔-59 (𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘙𝘰𝘢𝘥): 𝐍𝐨𝐰, after the mall's closure?

0/2000

Section 11: Questionnaire (5 of 5): Conclusion
1. If you have any home movies, photos, or souvenirs, would you be interesting sharing it or a copy (if applicable)? You shall receive full credit, and may request any faces, likenesses, and/or properties be blurred and/or obfuscated.

Note: this is entirely optional, and an incredible favor to help preserve the history of the mall.
1. (see above)

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2. What will you 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 most about the mall?

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3. Where do you 𝐠𝐨 now after the 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 of the mall (if applicable)?

0/2000
4. Do you believe that 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 have a 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞?

0/2000
5. What are your thoughts on the 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 of the 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 (if applicable)? Do you believe politics, economics, or something else led to it?

0/2000
6. Lakeside Mall: In your opinion, which plan best suits the future of Lakeside? (Please review the pictures below)
Picture #1: re-zone and re-open.

Note: Multiple malls across the United States have re-zoned for private residence use, which is arguably cheaper than complete redevelopment. See reference #1 at the bottom.
Picture #2: original 2018 plan: Lakeside Mall with new surrounding buildings.

Note: this is titled Concept B. The process involved will involve partial redevelopment. See reference #2 at the bottom.
Picture #3: current 2022 plan: Lakeside City Circle.

Note: the process involved will involve complete redevelopment. This is predicted to take up to "10 to 12 years", according to Sterling Heights Mayor Michael Taylor. See reference #3 at the bottom.
6. (see above)

𝐀. 𝐫𝐞-𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧: do not demolish, and do introduce new business-only tenants.𝐁. 𝐫𝐞-𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞-𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧: do not demolish, and do introduce new non-business tenants; include event hosting, housing/residential, government/municipalities, offices, supermarkets, etc. See 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 #𝟏 above.𝐂. 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞-𝐳𝐨𝐧𝐞: do not demolish, and do redevelop the surrounding parking lots only (original 2018 plan). See 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 #𝟐 above.𝐃. 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞, 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞-𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩: do demolish and redevelop both the building and the surrounding parking lots (current 2022 plan). See 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 #𝟑 above.𝐄. 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞: turn it back into farmland.𝐆. Other...
7. Do you have any 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭-𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬 or 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬? Please feel free to advertise.

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Section 12: Anonymity Notice (2 of 2)
The last time you were asked is in Section 4: Personal Information.
Specify which any questions' responses (by section and question number) to remain 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬:

0/2000

Section 13: Submit Questionnaire
Notes and/or Suggestions (optional):

0/2000
Thank you for sharing us your story! Please click Save and Submit before leaving this page!

Section 14: References
1. How Shopping Malls Are Being Transformed Into Apartments In The U.S. CNBC. December 5, 2024. Accessed July 7, 2025.
Original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1GIF6VNipE.
Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20241206000603/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1GIF6VNipE.

2. Lakeside Mall could make way for downtown Sterling Heights. Macomb Daily. October 1, 2018. Accessed July 7, 2025.
Original: https://www.macombdaily.com/2018/10/01/lakeside-mall-could-make-way-for-downtown-sterling-heights/.
Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20240701155321/https://www.macombdaily.com/2018/10/01/lakeside-mall-could-make-way-for-downtown-sterling-heights/.

3. $1B proposal would demolish Lakeside Mall, redevelop the site with housing. Detroit Free Press. October 28, 2022. Accessed July 7, 2025.
Original: https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2022/10/28/plan-demolish-lakeside-mall-redevelop-housing/69600089007/.
Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20221028224547/https://eu.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2022/10/28/plan-demolish-lakeside-mall-redevelop-housing/69600089007/.
Should be Empty:

Visitor Questionnaire