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A MAN has claimed that he lived in a secret apartment inside a shopping centre for four years as a means of protest against property development.
Michael Townsend, and seven other artists, occupied the 750-square-foot underground space in Providence Place, Rhode Island from 2003 – 2007 thanks to a chance discovery.
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Beginning in 1999, the keen jogger was on his daily run when he noticed the unused area underneath the recently erected Providence Shopping Mall.
Despite sparking an interest in what could be hidden inside the space, he immediately thought nothing of it.
Four years later, Townsend’s own condo home – named Fort Thunder – in the historic mill district was under threat from the same developers.
And amid a slew protests – that lasted two years – the artist and several others, were eventually forced out to make way for a supermarket car park.
But, Townsend and his displaced friends, decided the fight was still far from over and hatched a plan to covertly live in the mall as form of retribution.
“During the Christmas season of 2003 and 2004, radio ads for the Providence Place Mall featured an enthusiastic female voice talking about how great it would be if you (we) could live at the mall,” explained Townsend on his website.
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“The central theme of the ads was that the mall not only provided a rich shopping experience but also had all the things that one would need to survive and lead a healthy life.”
Upon reflection Townsend was drawn to the secret space he recalled visiting some four years earlier and believed it was perfect place “to develop the developer.”
He explained: “The new plan wasn’t just to live in the mall for just a week, it was now simply to live in the mall.”
It quickly became apparent that the area had not been touched since the building was completed in 1999 and appeared to be hidden away from a robust security team.
Filled with debris and leftover cables, the group of plucky friends set about removing the leftover materials from the disused work space – sneaking most things in and out of complex via their backpacks.
The entire endeavour was done out of a compassion to understand the mall more and life as a shopper,”
Michael Townsend
NBC News reported that the group later built a cinderblock wall and utility door to keep the loft hidden.
Inside, it was fully furnished and even equipped with a PlayStation 2 as the residents utilised the mall’s bathrooms for running water.
At times it was reported that they even lived in the secret apartment for more than three weeks at a time.
Townsend had grand plans to finish up a kitchen, install wood flooring, and add a second bedroom, but plans were cut short when mall security guards busted in upon the suspicious arrival of a visiting artist from Hong Kong.
Townsend insisted that “the entire endeavour was done out of a compassion to understand the mall more and life as a shopper,” but his art project ultimately landed him a misdemeanour charge for trespassing.
In 2007, the artist avoided jail and was handed a probation deal – despite receiving admiration from the mall’s officials.
“I was surprised at what he was able to accomplish,” Providence Police Maj. Stephen Campbell said at the time.
“But what he did was clearly criminal. The mall is private property.”
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