I'd been hearing for weeks that Dolphin Port was going to close at the end of March, but I didn't really know what that would entail. There had been various thoughts proposed by city officials, including replacing the shopping and restaurant center with a big sports complex or an event space with expanded streetcar service to the waterfront park. At the moment, it's just silence. Most of the shops had been run by the Yamakataya department store parent in some shape or form, and I guess they're the ones that signed a 10-year contract with the city for the land, although it actually turned into 15 years in the long-run.
I went back one week later after my classes ended on a Saturday (Apr. 11), and all the shops were shuttered, the parking lot empty except for the cars for the work crew, and the bottoms of the crossover stairs blocked off. The electrical boxes for the walkway lights had been ripped out, and the trash was being taken out for disposal.
It's really sad, actually. I liked being able to come down here occasionally and hang out in the Tully's coffee shop on the second floor. But, this always was a tourist trap, and the primary tourists recently were Chinese visitors from the cruise ships (who almost always made beelines for Tenmonkan and Amu Plaza). I guess, if there ever was going to be a good time to tear things down, it would be right in the middle of the Covid-19 emergency shutdown of the entire country.
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