Dude, this place looks like it could be straight out of a Myst or Legend of Zelda game...your music choice definitely helped add to that atmosphere. :O

I can fill in some info from the early 60's. The large main part was a grocery store (either Earl's or Bashas ), next to it was a TG&Y. There was a flower shop at the south corner, a shoe repair store, and I believe there was a Tandy Leather store there. Around the corner to the south, there was a barber shop. Towards the northern part in the front there was a craft store, Maymens. In the first part of the video, when you're showing the office area around the garden area, the very first office was my dentists office (from the 60's - 70's). A friend of mine lived right behind there, in fact I believe you can see the back of her house in your video (I will forward this to her and see if she will fill in more gaps). On some weekends they would have a sidewalk sale and my mother helped at the craft store and my brother and I use to go down to the grocery store where they usually had something to eat and drink. As for the fountain, yes it did flow down from the top. It was a nice place back then.

I'm not exactly sure why I just spent 38 minutes watching a video about a shopping center I drive by every day... but I did.

Thank you for documenting this place. I grew up a few streets behind there in the 70-80s. I learned to drive in the back "Grungy" alleyway/parking lot behind on the inner corner there. There was a deformed speed bump that when I was a kid, I used to be able to launch my bike off of, then land and go down that narrow breezeway to the inner corner. Back in the late 70s to mid 80s, the main corner space (Where the cascading fountain is) was a Drug store, I believe it was called "Lons" Prior to the cascading fountain, that corner used to be home to a large round concrete and tile fountain my friends and I would steal pennies from to buy cheap candy in the drug store. Those little offices where the "Rub and Tug" place used to be professional offices and small medical buildings. Club tropicana was a small theater in the 80s which hosted small theater events and comedy shows. Around the corner, was a sandwich shop called "The Sub Shop" which was submarine themed in the late 80s/early 90s. There was a decent chinese buffet there back in the 80s, a little ceasers pizza (back when you could get two pizzas for the price of one), an actual radio shack, DJ smoke shop (with blacked out tinted windows), a REAL barber with a spinning red and white barber pole. In front of each store, under the canopy, they had carved and painted wooden signs for each store hanging on two hooks... There was a furniture store, an optician, and around the corner was "Between the Buns", a great little bar with fantastic hamburgers and wooden theme. Right in the middle in the 90s was a dance club that changed it's name every few months as there were constant shootings and fights. In the parking lot there is a "Wells Fargo", which was "First Interstate Bank until the late 80s. That bank got robbed many times, and I remember once a stand-off where there were snipers on the roof of the Papago. Also there was a small drive up photo booth and I think a shaved ice stand. Where the pawn shop is now, used to be a carpet/tile store, "Colortile I believe, and before that, a French bakery/cafe/restaurant... I remember being a small child and my mother taking my sister and I there for eclairs surrounded by the very wealthy north scottsdale people.

So weird, with most of these stores it's like people just left work one day and never came back

I don't know man, you might think it looks tacky but it's pretty awesome considering that there's not a lot of pueblo-inspired architecture that I've seen. There are a fair amount of details in the exterior and it's impressive enough that it was built in 1959 (with the whole pueblo design?). At the very least, it has more character than most malls.

I love places that are tacky like that it gives a character

We used to eat at a hamburger place/ bar here back in the 80s called "Between The Buns" it had really good burgers. I was only like 7 at the time but I grew up in that area. Right across the street was Los Arcos Mall.... so many memories there. It was located in the space where you see the label scar for the British pub place.

This place is fantastic I would love to have my office in that little courtyard area it has a 60's look to the buildings but they have clearly been themed at later date over the basic brick. The whole place is so kitsch with some clean up and repair and some life breathed back into it then it would be amazing. Unfortunately uniqueness is replaced by bland box buildings that could be anywhere, welcome to boring town once it's redeveloped.

There was a "World Records' (where the Tuesday Mornings was) the '70's and they sold imported vinyl. Alwas cost a dollar more but it did sound better. Spent a night in front of said record store in the summer of '78 (Some Girls Tour) camped out all night for Rolling Stones tickets. It was in the Tuesday Morning space.

When I was a child in the mid 80s my parents would take me to the baskin robbins on Sundays from time to time. It was somewhere towards the end of your video. There was also a joke/prank shop near the ice cream place. I remember as a kid I wanted to visit it so bad, but it was closed on Sundays. It sold whoopie cushions, pack of gum that would snap your finger, the hand buzzer thingy when you shake someone's hand, lol. All cheesy old school prank items.

looks more like flinstones mall

Way better looking than the 80’s and 90’s eyesores they built all over the city.

That place used to be a plaza for high end shops. This is sad.

The floorplan of this mall is pretty confusing. I wonder how many people got lost while shopping during its better days. Also the neglect of this place is pretty heartbreaking. Maybe it is just me but it hurts me somehow to see a place which had been there for such a long time treated that way. I am a sentimental person I guess. But nevertheless great job.

so when this place was built it was just a mid century modern strip mall, the plaster "adobe" A E S T H E T I C was added in the late 80's to revitalize the plaza, apparently it worked, but only for about ten years before it became kind of a joke.

My grandma’s house was RIGHT by there. I was there ALL the time as a kid. And we went to Los Arcos United Methodist Church which was also right near there. I love seeing all this on your channel! Keep up the great work!

I remember when the shopping center was not covered to look like adobe. There was a vast variety of shops. My favorite was the record shop. I remember as a little kid taking empty bottles to the grocery store to cash in for recycling. There was a coffee shop that was really good and a drug store that had a soda fountain area. Lots of good memories here.

There's something right about peach and teal, I really liked that little office area.

Guys: I loved this one, as Papago Plaza was old school high end Scottsdale. A lot of good memories from around that area. To the south was a buffet, and is now a bar, was a Cafe' Casino, a high end French Buffet, that I went to many times back in the early-mid 1980s. There was also a restaurant-tavern called "Between the Buns" that advertised on KSTM back in the early 1980s. Valley National Bank had its high end car financing office there too. The Korean Restaurant has been there for about 20 years or more. As I remember, Los Arcos, where Sky Song is now, and this property were owned by the same company at one time. The owners have obviously decided to let it go to seed and run out the renters, like so many owners of mall properties are doing these days in the valley.

I moved away from AZ to CA in 2009 and only moved back at the beginning of 2023. So many of these are unlocking DEEP memories that make me sad that I missed when these places were demolished or officially closed. Thank you for documenting all of these.

It’s sad and pathetic that yet another Scottsdale southwestern iconic place is set to be demolished and replaced with a bland typical so-called modern structure. Despite being there a long time and in need of repairs, such places have a lot of character and charm. The look is unique to the Southwest. The proposed replacement looks like structures you see in every city across the nation. We’ve lost iconic places such as Greasewood Flat and Pinnacle Peak Patio. Neither have been replaced with anything as unique or similar appeal. People really need to step back and look from another perspective. We live in a very unique geographic area that has rich cultural influences and beautiful nature unlike anywhere else. Why should we try to look like every other place in the nation in regards to architecture?

I live a block or two away from this place, and the last time I saw that water fountain/fall operational was around 2010 or 2012. I can only imagine what the surrounding area looked like back when it opened in the 50's 😂

November 19th, 1959 article www.newspapers.com/clip/15359187/papago_plaza_opening_article/. It had the first prestressed concrete roof in the world.

The place that had the jester figure painted on the wall and the stage, used to be an improv comedy venue called Jesterz. I'd never been, but I do remember that it had a presence in that plaza for several years

There was a DJ's Smoke Shop in there during the 80's and 90's, major contributor to my juvenile delinquency :)

I remember the last time I set foot in that mall, I went to nightclub called the Blue Iguana. Right where you guys found glass block walls and bird crap. In the south end of the mall was a place called, "Between the Buns". I think it was a hamburger place. But based on the name I never wanted to go there. It's scary to think I remember when the place was renovated into what you guys were looking at. I drove by it a lot, but almost never set foot on the property.

Whoa. I was at Western Honda getting my scooter serviced back in 2014. I remember walking down to this Plaza to kill time. It was dead and everything was closed. I bought my first cup of Dutch Bros coffee nearby and walked back to Honda disappointed.

Living down in the Southeastern valley I always appreciate the old school architecture you see in Scottsdale and Phoenix.

I ate at that Sakura grill 5 years agoMy grandmother has lived in south Scottsdale since 1957 so I am very familiar with this shopping center as well as the late Los Arcos mall Between Tempe marketplace fashion square and the pavilions this was bound to happen

Used to drop in and have some beers once in a blue moon at the British Open English Pub & Grill that was in this strip mall. A friend just told me last week that it had closed a while back. Great video(s) keep up the good work!

Great video! I grew up in AZ and have a fun lil memory of this plaza for you. An NSYNC meet and greet was held here after one of their concerts back in 1999. My friend and I met all the guys and I even have some pics of the night. If I remember correctly...the club was called the Coyote Cafe or something like that. It was where Papago Brewery is or it was one of the locations that looked like it could have been a club...not sure. Amazing night haha. It’s funny because driving by....the plaza really looks pretty cool....I had no idea it was built in 1959 and was in such bad shape though. So so sad! Thanks for capturing this..kinda makes me sad they are demolishing it :(

That must have been one of the oldest structures in Scottsdale!! In that part of the country, pretty much anything built before 1975 is considered "old." *NO* graffiti!!

I can fill in the blanks for you on this one. I moved to Arizona in 1992, I lived a few blocks away from this plaza. I Love the architecture of it, it looked nice years ago. In 1992 it was at about 3/4 capacity and clean. Nice shops and a Asian Buffet place. But, it was just staring to go into decline after that... TROPICANA was a Night Club, there in the early 2000's there was a big fight and a shooting in the club. After that it closed down and has been closed since. The big fountain on the front of the façade was working about six years ago. The water ran down from the roofline into the pool below. The fountains were lighted and looked pretty cool at night. I use to work in the SEARS across the road in the old LOS ARCOS MALL which was torn down in 1997-98. Also, there use to be a British Pub in there along the Scottsdale Road side. I am also glad you are documenting this plaza, I kind of like it.

Excellent video! Right after I finished watching I looked Papago Plaza up on Google Maps and set it to 3D, spun the camera around, and saw the places you explored, including the back area where the sink was. One thing I could see was that the adobe look was added on at some point; the top of it is held in place with braces, the upper area of it in the center of the main building is completely fake and the rest of the building is of conventional construction. I also noticed a few places where there might be holes in the roof, which would explain the debris you saw inside a few of the empty shops. Also, the music you chose hit me right in the nostalgia.

Such a beautiful mall. I can’t understand why they think it’s a good idea to replace it with another mall that’s probably just going to die again. I wish they would just save the unique and interesting features of this one.

There was a Gap there in the early ‘70s, I bought my first pair of bell bottoms there, banana pinwale corduroy. My family shopped there in the ‘60s, it was called Papago Plaza then. The old TG&Y store had no cash registers but instead a pneumatic tube system. The clerk would write up the bill and send it with your payment up to some office. It is sad that it is going, so much of old Scottsdale is gone .

This place looks cool unlike other boring, generic strip malls.

I grew up with this mall and so it's hard to hear that it'll be torn down even though I rarely went there.

I moved to the neighborhood in January 1969 at 11 years old. Los Arcos Mall was still under construction. In 1969 Papago Plaza looked totally different. It had a Mid Century Modern look. What you see in the video is a 1980's remodel. The main centered grocery store was called EZ Save, not Earl's or Bashas (Earl's was at S/E Hayden Rd. and Indian School Rd. {later became the current Bashas}. and S/W of Main St. and Scottsdale Rd. in Downtown. Bashas was at 7405 E. McDowell Rd.). Many years later that big center space became numerous large bars such as the Blue Lagoon, and Midnight Rodeo, etc. The Flower Cart was on the east corned. Chief Dodge (Jewelry) was on the south side facing Scottsdale Rd. Just north of it was a shoe/boot repair shop. On the west side in 1970 was a pin ball Arcade called Fiddler Greens. There was also a large Buffet Restaurant on the west side. I had many great memories there.

OK, I have to correct you on the name change. You say sometime in the 1980's the name changed from Frontier Town Plaza to Papago Plaza. No. My family moved here December of 1970 and its been Papago Plaza since we have lived here. So the name change had to have been in the 60's

"Yeah. This is a rub and tug."

I was living in Scottsdale and working at ASU when this current renovation/update to the previous old Frontier Town was constructed .. I loved watching it happen ... I loved this place .. drove by every day ... and loved the Los Arcos Mall across the street ...

Love that Chrono Trigger Music.

The Malouf name is connected to Vegas casinos and the Sacramento Kings in the NBA, that's what Mark might be thinking.

To think it outlived Los Arcos Mall across the street, only to die from neglect. South Scottsdale doesn't have the money that the rest of the town northward has. Its old houses in the south makes it like an extension of Tempe.

There used to be a gym where Blue Iguana was. After the gym, it was a series of failed night clubs

Blue Iguana was a night club before Ocean's 7. The "blitz 777" was across the street. Spend many a night at that club in 87-91. Good times. The place was old an gaudy then. I do remember that huge fountain.

1959 - 59 years ago in 2018. Many malls in the country that opened in the 60's and 70's have died and closed and some demolished

I don't know how high end the hotel was, but you're right, there was a hotel past Bobby McGees facing McDowell. I forgot about that.

Thanks for documenting this, before it's torn down. I've always drove by this place, but never actually went to check it out. Since there wasn't a whole lot going on. 🤣

I like the kitsch and that fact they stripe paint job goes all the way around is impressive

The building got character! shame they just demolish buildings without further though!

First, they tore down the Los Arcos mall across the street and built a business center. Then up McDowell road, they tore down at least 5 major car dealerships and replaced them with apartments and townhouses. And now they are tearing down Papago Plaza. This part of Scottsdale has really changed in the last 10 years.

Great videos, keep up the good work!

we have SARS now..... little did they know what was to come in 3 short years...

I loved this video you shot. It's actually wonderful thing you document these dead and dying places. Once they're gone they're gone forever. There's always something sad about seeing a once bustling place lay vacant. Anyways great channel, you got my sub 👍

Great video. Love the design of this place plus the courtyard the waterfalls, fountains, paintings and the sign too. First heard the term rub and tug on the Adam and Dr Drew show a few weeks ago lol!

18:40 I used to drive past this plaza going to ASU in 2001 and some mornings the fountain would have foam piled up and spilling over the sides because kids soaped it.

Still one of my fave vids you have produced!!

I just came here after I watched all your more recent videos. Eventhough I really enjoyed the calmness and quietness a completly dubbed video offers, I have to admit this "raw" footage is also very entertaining. It feels like I am actuelly there with you and Marc. Idea: Make a secound channel where you upload the raw footage of your adventures after the actuall video was released on the main channel. Anyway really great content! Keep up the good work! Best wishes from Germany :) (Sorry if I made any mistakey, english is not my first language)

This was one of your better videos

The wood beams are likely not structural. Or they're just a fake wood outside covering up metal pilings on the inside.

Yay! Another awesome video, thank you so much!

I wish that people back in the day did this kind of record keeping. It’d be cool watching someone poking around places back in the 60’s or 70’s

FYI ~ In the late 80's/early 90's the remodel of Papago Plaza was done by architect Adolf DeRoy Mark from Carefree, AZ, who has since passed away, and it certainly reflected his style. His home was designed in the "adobe/Sante Fe " style also with beams and vigas. The lighting fixtures in the parking lot I see in your video are the same as the ones he did for Old Town Scottsdale. They are still there.

Thank you for the length, love the long videos

I worked at the hi health in the 90s here. It was a really cool place. The back rooms were like a maze something I would of never guessed by looking at the front. Thanks for the video

the old shopping center ones are my FAVORITE! thank you for the work you do!

Just a quick update for you. Went by there yesterday, and yes, the demolition has finally commenced. In fact, the only thing still standing at this point is the southeast tower. The entire site is behind construction fencing, and you could see the debris from all of the downed buildings. No mention anywhere of what is coming. Thought I'd let you know.

Cool place. Thank you for the long video. Second one to find a model of the future plans, too!

This is one of your all time best walk around vids! This place is so unique and sketchy.

About the area that they went into at 3:50, That's the area that I'd convert one of the stores/offices into an apartment. That is, I would if it hadn't been torn down. Side note: I keep watching this video, along with the 2 El Pedregal videos.

The place with the diamond color paint pattern and stage with harlequin was a family-friendly improv comedy club! I took my 2-year-old to cheer on a friend doing his first public improv performance. Shame to see it go. Much like the rest of the mall...

The first "closed" location of the Caribbean restaurant back in the 90's was one of the best Middle Eastern restaurants (Can't rememer the name) in the East Valley. They even had belly dancers and a hookah lounge. We had my best friend and his fiancee's rehearsal dinner there!

I think if you could somehow be able to obtain footage of this plaza being demolished, it would really provide an interesting closure to this mall.

Superb video. I hung on to every minute!

Drove by this location today, it’s since been demolished.. pretty sad.

Margeaux is absolutely right. When the place was built in 1959 it was a mid-century modern style. The rock wall that you see at one point in the video is indicative of what the whole place looked like. The whole Pueblo thing was done in the 1980s when the Southwest thing became very popular. I recall there being lots of pale pink and Dusty Rose in the color scheme.

My best friend worked at that pizza place when I first moved to Arizona in 2010

You do know there used to be a big mall just across the street. Los Arcos opened my senior year at Coronado High. Seemed like half the people I knew had jobs at Los Arcos.

The Oceans 11 Club used to be Club Tribeca, it was a very posh and high class Night Club, I used to go there. It was not uncommon to see celeberties and athletes. I once bumped into Mike Tyson there.

I ate at that buffet a few times. If I recall correctly it wasn't around for very long. opened sometime around 2015 (give or take a year) or so and seemed to only last a year or two.

Love the look of this place.... 11:52 would work great in a crime drama 🙂

People just love to watch things crumble for some reason.

I love the waterfall. I love the walkway. I love the apt. like rooms at the back. I love the fountain. ⛲ I love the pueblo type building. I love the paint. I love the painted turtle. 🐢 I love what makes up the building. I love the stone. I love the glass. I love the painted diamonds on the wall.

I love your music choices

Lived in old town Scottsdale for a few years. I always would drive by. Never went into it.. nice video..

So I was running a delivery at some apartments near this and I've lived in Arizona since 2004, and used to go here and in the area when I was younger common but I haven't been to this place in nearly a decade probably. I was surprised when I saw that there's owning it for demo but once I got closer in remember just how empty in in disarray the place was back then and still is even worse now it was understandable. As a Southwestern archeologist I do have a soft spot for the Pablo type architecture and design, but seeing how little attention to upkeep was given to this place I'm more than fine with seeing it go. I am super happy to have found your channel though, as like I said I am an archeologist and pairing retail and archeology seems like a super interesting idea and I look forward to checking out more of your videos. I do want to know if you guys are genuine archeologists or were archeology majors or just simply paired the 2 words together to form your channel, either way I like what you guys are doing and have been certain to subscribe. Take care

My brother and I used to go to the British Open Pub once in a while when he was in town. The main thing I'll always remember is that they would celebrate New Year's at 5:00 p.m. New Year's Eve because that was midnight in London. There was also some sort of tropical bar-type place, probably in the space where Oceans 7 eventually was. I went in there once a long time ago to see Bob Denver.

Thanks for doing the one man.. i am looking forward to what they do with the plans to make is shopping and apartments. I was bummed when papago brewing closed with no plans to relocate.

I use to ride my bike up here starting in 1966. Then it had a nice dark wood at the top with each store logo. We would go to the Taco Bell, then next door to Baskin Robbins (a taco and a scoop of ice cream were each 35 cents, which left 30 cents of my allowance). On the other side of Taco Bell was an Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips (which had a long line out the door every friday night). The grocery story AJ Bayless was in the middle of the strip mall, and always packed, as was the TG&Y next to it. And my mom would get her hair done every Friday at Marbett's Beauty Salon (which they later made into part of the Chinese Buffet in the 90s). The office complex to the west at the beginning of your video was where our doctors office was. And where the fountain is now, use to be a Bobby McGee's - which always had a line waiting to get in. Likely underneath the horrid pink adobe facade, is the original brown wooden backdrop. I remember when they added the pink adobe, we all thought it was an awful eye-sore. But the walkway made of small stones in your video looks like it's the same walkway I use to ride my bike on. Thanks for the video!!

of all the malls you show... this one had the most potential to bee revitalised as is. I liked the lay out of all the professional spaces an smaller stores on one floor - it looks like it could have really worked as a 'village' market vibe: so different from everything under one roof. I loved all the alleys and nooks and crannies. If you have ever been to Italy, lots of the towns have a centre like this where everyone gathers. I think this one is a real shame to die off.

About a year late, but I remember this place being a pretty high-end shopping center. I remember there was a police shooting incident at Tropicana, which led to it being shut down. The Dutch Brothers used to be an independent coffee shop that I used to go to when I moved into the the general area in 1995. I used to go Los Arcos Mall quite a bit, which was located where Skysong is now. They had a Luby's and, though I know it largely was known as a place for old people, actually had pretty good food at prices friendly for a student. Other than the coffee place at the time what was at Papago Plaza was either outside of my interest or price range. I do remember spas, jewelry stores and clothing places in there as well as the nightclubs.

Man I used to clean the parking lot and the sidewalks around 2015 at night and I was a weird place but like the look of it because it was so different.

Get a polarizing lens or just a lens kit in general, should give you more options and if you choose to get the polarized lens, no reflections on glass!

I lived near that and I never know it existed... the design is interesting how there offers in a special section of the mall. I'm going to miss places like this.

First let me say that massage place IS a rub n tug! It has been since the 90’s. I know for a fact because I’ve known a few guys that have gone there. I know the club there was Club Tribecca. It was there in the mid to late 90’s. I know around ‘98-99 someone got stabbed there (I think outside) can’t remember if he died there or not. I’m sure you can pull up that news story. It then changed to another name (I can’t remember). I wish I could post photos here because I have some of Justin Timberlake and the guys from N*Sync standing outside of this place. They had a concert and then had their after party here. That was in 99. The club then had several names after that. Of course Club Tropicana was also a club was there for the longest time too in the 90’s. I lived a few streets over from this place I’m sad to see it go. :( Also is that Hometown Buffet still next door? I haven’t been that way in years.

Wow! I remember this place from vacation long ago. The Sakura buffet had a little gift shop near the entrance. I still have my “lucky cat”. I also remember a really old big screen TV they had that barely worked 😂

They eliminated "rubn'tugs" in Phoenix/Metro area years back, I don't think anyone would have been operating one back there by _offices_ The new laws are extremely strict, even before the new laws most "massage" places never allowed actual touching. You 're more likely to get that in a topless bar, than a massage parlor.