Virginia Center Commons Mall Oral History Student Project
About the Project
Background
Note: The photos below are not the property of the project. If someone were to use these two
photos for their research, then they would need to ensure they include their citation as they are copyrighted by someone else. Also, website can not fit on phone because it is loaded with so much information. It is recommended to read and browse this website on a computer screen.
The Virginia Center Commons Mall Oral History project was organized by Joa Kearney as their university student project that they decided on for their Oral History course, HIST483. The initial purpose of this project was to explore the reasons why VCC is closed, possibly reminisce about memories others experienced there or at other childhood shopping centers/malls, and gain an understanding of the possible pattern of other malls closing or the gradual slowing of popularity and traffic at the mall. To accomplish this goal, the organizer and interviewer, Joa, heard from mall shoppers, but initially wanted to also hear from those who used to work there. But, they were not able to find any previous employees of VCC.
Since December of 2023, the Henrico Sports & Events Center sits where Virginia Center Commons Mall used to be. Often, Joa Kearney used to visit VCC with family and friends to the point where it represents a treasured memory that they shared with them. In the development of this project, Joa wanted to find out if this nostalgia feeling was the same for other previous mall goers. This project was launched in February 2025 and was finished in early May due to the time constraint of their course deadline, but it is possible that this project may be expanded more in the near future if more people wish to tell their story about VCC and other dead malls.
Initially, the Virginia Center Commons Oral History collection was to contain around 4 or more interviewee participants, limiting itself to a short-term project with only one interviewer, Joa Kearney, however, the project only ended up with 2 interviewee participants. Joa looked for participants through social media platforms like YouTube, Reddit, Yelp, and LinkedIn, focusing on those who knew about Virginia Center Commons or malls in general.
The project was done according to the deadlines of Joa Kearney’s Oral History professor. Physical copies of audio recordings and written transcriptions are distributed on this website to ensure that oral histories of Virginia Center Commons can be accessed widely.
Stone, Aaron F. Virginia Center Commons Abandoned Main Entrance. 2020. Photograph. Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/22408aaron/50010032391/in/photostream/
Kalasnik, Mike. Inside of Virginia Center Commons near food court. 2019. Photograph. Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/10542402@N06/48253624502/in/photostream/
Project Leadership
Joa Kearney is the only organizer and interviewer of Virginia Center Commons Mall Oral History project. At the time of the project, they were a university student attending Old Dominion University as a senior with an interest in history. They pursued Oral History as an elective and required course of their major.