Merrick here...

This story is about the death of a place. It was a real place, although most assume it was a set and don't know it actually existed...which makes its passing all that much more tragic, I suppose.

If you're a good Geek (if you're reading this article, I can only assume that you are), you already know what this place looked like because you've seen the 1976 film LOGAN'S RUN (despite its imperfections and deviations from source material, it's still one of my very favorite movies).

This is the place I'm specifically referring to:

It's "The Great Hall", through which throngs of naive city dwellers passed on the way to exalt the false promise of Carousel.

It's where Sandman Logan 5 and best friend Francis 7 sadistically stalked a "Runner" -- not realizing that Logan would soon become the prey.

It's where jetpacked clean-up crews drifted quietly down to dissolve the remains of a man whose only crime was wanting to live a bit longer.

In the REAL world, The Great Hall looked like this:

It was located in the Dallas Apparel Mart; for 4 decades it was host to a variety of functions.

About a year ago, The Powers That Be started tearing it down...

...and this is what it looks like today.

LOGAN'S RUN was something of a coming of age film for me. It's the first time I saw a "hero" do some very mean things; it's the first time I saw titties...and I really liked 'em. The action sequence in "The Great Hall" is the first "grown-up" big-screen chase I can recall. This place has meaning to me; it's a huge part of my Geekiness. I'm guessing more than a few readers might feel the same way...so we wanted to pass this along, and let you know it is now gone.

We don't write about places too often here on AICN, but maybe we should. Whether it be The Great Hall, Devil's Tower, Ralphie Parker's house in Cleveland, or anywhere in between...a location can sometimes be every bit as memorable as the people who populate it. There's no harm in recognizing that.

I'd like to extend a heartfelt thanks to Dicktate and The Pirate for their invaluable assistance assembling this piece.

If you're a fan of the movie, I highly recommend you checking out THIS EXCELLENT SITE -- tons of material there about the making of the film.

[[[e-mail Merrick]]]