There are only a handful of stores left standing now at Collin Creek Mall in Plano. It’ll all be torn down soon. I’ve worked many mornings from the food court there, just me and the old folks who walk the mall and meet up for coffee.

The mall is being razed to build a new billion dollar open air, multi-use development that will host stores, apartments, green space, and even a “lagoon” of all things. It’ll take six years to build, if everything goes according to plan. Judging by the impact of other recent construction in the area, the whole place will be off-limits for vehicle traffic for quite some time to come. I’ll need to find some new working spots.

I’ve heard they’re going to excavate the drainage tunnels under the mall in order to expose the creek that runs under the parking lot. They say there are homeless folks that live down there, underground. And criminals have been known to dart into those tunnels when being chased by the cops. There’s a geocache down there, placed by one of the founding members of the Texas Geocaching Association, a guy who goes by the online handle of 9key, a legend among Texas geocachers. I suppose I missed my chance to find it.