It’s one of the most improbable episodes ever to come out of Rhode Island and now it’s a documentary playing at movie theaters nationwide. The film, “Secret Mall Apartment” reveals how a local artist and seven friends lived inside Providence Place Mall, undetected, for years.
Rhode Island art teacher Michael Townsend is the mastermind behind the outrageous plot to reclaim empty industrial space and turn it into a clandestine clubhouse.
Townsend was living in artist studio apartments near Providence Place in 2003 when developers informed residents their mill residences would be torn down as part of a revitalization plan for the capital city.
“We lost a home. We gained the home, but in the act of gaining the home, we had to do a little bit of trespassing, okay, a lot of trespassing,” admits Townsend.
“When the mall was being built, I saw a space where I could not figure out what it would be used for, and we went looking for that anomaly in the architecture, snuck ourselves in, took out our flashlights and there it was,” said Townsend.
He said they gained access through an unlocked door at the back of the mall. Inside the urban explorers discovered stairwells and crevices all leading them from the mall to their hideout. They smuggled in furniture and the space was equipped with electricity via an extension cord plugged into the mall.
“I had a habit that whenever we were there for any amount of time and we knew we were using electricity, I would always go to where the mall offices were. And I would put a $20 bill in an envelope that said, thank you for the resources. And I would slide under the door,” Townsend said.
For four years, even with security cameras, they never got caught. “We spent a lot of time in the mall, so we understood the rhythms of where people were walking, where the cameras were. Most of our actions always happen in broad daylight. That’s the best time to do things because that’s when crime doesn’t happen” Townsend said.
But, in 2007 their crime was uncovered by two young security guards, who actually used the mall apartment a few times before informing their superiors. “I will say the Providence Police did find it hilarious, they were deeply amused by it,” said Townsend.
He was charged with misdemeanor trespassing, received a suspended sentence and was banned from ever entering the mall again. Now, eighteen years later the documentary using video footage Townsend recorded of their escapade is the basis for the new film. And Providence Place allowed Townsend back in, to receive a hero’s welcome at the mall’s cinema for the premiere.
