Washington Square — Local services in Indianapolis

I genuinely question why this mall is even still open. I went with a friend of mine to see just how bad it was, and it was so much worse than I had anticipated. It was honestly heartbreaking to see how awful this place is. The beautiful art and design for the "Washington Square" sign, long since faded, peeling, and falling apart. The massive buildings with intricate decorative designs on the outside walls, boarded up and scarred with graffiti. You can tell at one time this place was thriving. Unfortunately that time has long since passed.

The parking lot is riddled with massive pot holes. Nearly every piece of signage we saw was practically falling apart. I would guess at least 70% of the store fronts that had entrances/exits leading outside are currently boarded up or closed. We saw a massive light post that had fallen over and just been left there in one of the parking lots. It looks completely abandoned from the outside, but it was in fact still open to the public.

After driving around the entire mall, we only saw one (1) way to get in and out of the mall. As we had driven around, we had taken pictures of the worst looking parts of the property. Specifically all the boarded up doors and windows and the decrepit old signs around the parking lot and above the only entrance we saw.

As soon as we walked in, the security guard was immediately hostile and said "We do not allow photos or videos, so you need to delete all the photos you took on your way in." I can understand not wanting your business to be perceived as being run down and unmaintained. I would have completely understood them saying "please stop taking photos, we don't allow that here." They are entirely within their right to say that since the mall is in fact technically private property. I also would have understood if they had simply asked us to leave, because, again, it is private property. If the security officer had told us to stop photographing and leave, we would have gladly done so.

What was not acceptable was the fact that the security guard did not even ask us to stop photographing the run down and dilapidated state that everything was in, but instead simply demanded that we had to delete the photos we had already gotten before we had walked in.

FYI, not even law enforcement can force someone to delete photos/ videos under any circumstance, and law enforcement officers have actually faced felony charges for obstruction and theft in the past for doing so. They can't even confiscate or view someone's digital photos or videos without a warrant. I imagine a security officer (a private employee who has even less authority or protections than an actual law enforcement officer) would face similar penalties.

With that said, this security officer would have been entirely in the right to tell us to stop and to leave. If she hadn't actively tried to escalate the situation by initially saying we weren't allowed to leave until we deleted the photos we'd taken, photographing us as we were leaving after refusing to delete the photos, or saying "I've called the authorities, and they are on their way" when she had in fact not called law enforcement, but just the guy who owns this pitiful mall.

If you don't want people to show how dilapidated and neglected the building is, maybe it would be better to put money into improving the building rather than yelling at people saying they aren't allowed to record how awful it is.

If businesses and customers aren't coming in, then maybe the mall could pivot to something else. Maybe rather than being an empty retail center almost entirely devoid of shops and customers, it could instead be something like a community center that rents space to different organizations and runs social programs to try and improve...

Hello everyone, as of recent I took a trip to Indianapolis to check out some malls. One of them was the Washington Square Mall. As I arrive, I notice driving through the parking lot is like driving on mars. As I pulled into a parking space and got to the entrance I powered up my osmo pocket camera and begin filming. However the guard noticed my camera and didn’t like it. He told me I couldn’t be filming and I need to delete the footage. I said no but I will glady leave. On my way out he was following and harassing me. He was telling me I need to delete the footage, as again I said no. Then he began swearing and saying how they’re tired of people coming to this mall and documenting it. This has to be one of the worst incidents I had to deal while doing YouTube. Other than Mall at the Source in New York. I will not be returning to this mall again. I wouldn't recommend visiting this mall either. Everyone be...

I haven’t personally visited this mall recently, but I’ve seen multiple people mention a serious issue that needs to be addressed. According to several reports, at least one store inside is openly selling illegal substances, including psilocybin mushrooms, out-of-state cannabis edibles, and unregulated vape cartridges. This is not only illegal but also extremely concerning for the safety of visitors and businesses operating there.

Another alarming trend I’ve noticed in these discussions is how aggressive security seems to be in preventing people from taking photos or videos. If their priority is silencing potential evidence rather than maintaining a safe and legal environment, that raises serious red flags about what’s really going on behind the scenes.

I sincerely hope police investigate...