The Citadel Mall — Attraction in Colorado Springs

Worst mall ever! the security there are HORRIBLE people, they like to harass teenagers that are just walking around the mall and who are minding their business. The security guards are so immature and childish, that they put their hands on these kids and they lie to parents saying the kid “hit them first” these grown men mainly be following teenage girls around the the mall for no reason. They never actually stop the people that are stealing or the ones actually doing bad stuff. But they always pick on a group of teenage girls to harrass and pick on. I’m 17 years old, I went to the mall with my brother, my brothers friend (whose 18) and 2 of my homegirls and we were shopping for my graduation. These security gaurds started harrassing me and friends saying we had to leave because we didn’t have an adult with us, we even told them that we did and that my brothers friend was 18 and they still proceeded to follow us and harass us. They were pushing and shoving my brother and my homegirl against the wall, cussing at them and yelling at them. When we walk out the mall like they asked they still proceeded to follow us out. And I will admit, I did try to hit one of the security guards with my purse but the purse DIDNT hit him. It hit the DOOR! And this man slams his hand against the door and proceeded to say that I “assaulted” him and then said I couldn’t leave. I kept walking away another security guard starts trying to take my bags of things that I BOUGHT from the mall and he records him self doing this on his own phone. After some time my brother pushed him of me and the man takes my phone out of my hands. i politely asked for my phone back and he says to me “no it’s mine now” and I said “that’s bs that’s MY property” and he says “yeah and it’s on our property so it’s mine now” like what in the childish is that? A grown man saying that to a minor? Ok. i grabbed his hand, not violently or anything. I just was trying to get my phone back and he quickly put my phone in his other hands, when my brother tries to come help this man slams to the ground and he breaks my knee. I’m sitting on the concrete screaming and crying and pain and people watching around where trying to help me. when they tried to they were threatened. “If you try to help her ur going to jail” so they left me there. The head security guard made the one that broke my knee give my brother my phone. my brother calls my mom and she pulls up to the mall. my brother carries me to the car. I’m currently still screaming and sobbing because I can’t stand up. One of my friends mom pulls up as well. While both moms are talking to a police officer that stays at the mall, he shows both parents video footage of everything. One of the moms said “I guarantee there’s a lot of stuff cut out of this video” and the officer that be at the mall says “yes we cut some footage out” ISNT THAT ILLEGAL? And then the man lies to my mom and says i attacked that security guard that broke my knee first and couldn’t even show video proof when she asked. This is so unfair and unprofessional. These security guards think they can js boss these kids around because they are mall security. But in reality they are just bum childish grown men who think they are police officers when in reality their jobs are to stop fights and people from stealing. Instead they sit in the mall vaping inside the mall and just pick and choose what kids they are going to harrass. It’s honestly so embarrassing and they really should be fired or even in jail for putting their hands on kids/giving them serious injuries!! This was few days before my graduation (June 11, 2025 is when this all happened) and because of that security guard I didn’t even get to walk across the stage on my graduation because he broke my knee. And still till this day my knee is still healing and I’m practicing to walk again. How do u expect you’re security guards to protect the mall, when they don’t even do that when they are wasting time harassing kids who aren’t doing anything wrong? Get better...

Honestly I'm not really sure why some commenters are hating so much on this mall. It seems like a typical average American mall. Sure there are some closed storefronts, but there are still quite a few present - name brand as well as locally owned. Take a look at my pictures I literally just took today (14 Mar 17) to browse what's there. It looked pretty clean and modern to me, but then again I've been in some pretty run-down places in my life. Not a huge fan of the second story being kind of split in two, but meh. I saw a lot of people walking in and out of stores with leashed dogs, and not service dogs. Not sure what the pet policy inside is, but I assume they let people just bring dogs in freely, so if that's not a thing you like, maybe not the best shopping location for you. I went into Spencer's where I saw some teens... and also a whole wall of sex toys. I wasn't aware things had changed so much during the mere two years I spent in Japan, but hey I guess culture progression? The food court was fairly impressive to me, with a wide variety of choices, though staff training I'm beginning to realize in this area generally is underwhelming. I had to explain to a chocolate shop worker what a sampler was. I don't think my expectations are usually too high, but common knowledge isn't that difficult to obtain, is it? In any case, I wouldn't knock this mall without checking it out yourself, and you'll only be disappointed if you're used to major city expectations. If that's the case, then enjoy the drive...

Coming from the economically hit areas of the midwest, it was cool to see a mall that resembled the mall I grew up with during my childhood in the 90's, the last stronghold decade of the malls. The 2000s saw americas shopping malls really start to disappear. This mall is of the same cut but has stood.

It has an arcade! That was gone from my mall when I was becoming a teenager back in Ohio. It doesn't have a movie theater, that would been super cool, but that's unheard of as it is. It has a food court with a fountain area, I wonder if that's where they have Santa every year, that was the spot in my old local mall. It has local businesses, which was a thing of old malls, most major shopping malls these days are infected with typical chains. Super neat, super cool. I didn't see a coin fountain, but we were low on time. Seriously, it's like a living monument imo. Some say it's dirty, I didn't see that. I think it's a little dated, but it's really cool, and being dated is okay.

I would definitely check this place out and give the shops your business. It's an odd American past cultural icon that is still standing. I know my nostalgia is really kicking in here to my bias, but I don't think it's even just people of my generation, I think every one can enjoy something like this. Go and check it out, keep it alive. It's your...