FOREST PARK, Ohio — "Catching a dead fish is proving to be a lot harder than I expected it to be."
That's how Abby Martz began her college entrance essay. And she knows you might think it's weird.
"I have gotten some of that," Martz said.
But her journey to save part of a decaying mall is about more than a basketball hoop-sized inflatable fish. It's about preserving history — and her childhood.
Relive the journey with her in the video below:
Her brother’s first word was, “mall.” Her mom used to work there as a teenager. And her dad bought diapers here.
The now-closed building was once known as Forest Fair Mall. Martz knew it as Cincinnati Mills. To everyone, it will soon be demolished, with only memories left behind.
Memories like Martz’s brother running through stores to get to the playground, shouting “mall” every time they drove past it in the car. Or Martz herself trying to step on only blue circles with her sister on their way to the food court.
That’s where the fish were, an especially important part of the mall lighting up the food court ceiling.
“I’d consider myself lucky,” Martz said. “Because I had my entire life with this mall.”
But that's not the whole story.
"When I found out the mall was closed to the public, I was gutted," Martz said in her essay. "All I wanted was to see it again. My favorite fish from my favorite place in the entire world."
So she emailed the governor. And she banged on door after door until she found a security guard.
“He was not happy to hear from me,” Martz said.
Still, that security guard asked the property owners if she could take home her favorite fish. The steps this recent high school graduate took may seem simple, but it took years of persistence. She was told no more than once.
“Now, I have one of the last surviving pieces of this mall,” Martz said. “As soon as I saw it, I was smiling so big. I couldn’t believe I was looking at it in real life.”
In their driveway, it looks like a beached whale. The parts that came with it are broken. Her dad uses a leaf blower to clean it off. Then, he uses the blower to inflate it.
Martz can't help but smile. She hasn't seen it inflated in years.
"It really kind of warms my heart to know it's still here," Martz said.
That might be an understatement, because she ended her essay by writing, "It is a part of who I am, and I am not complete without that piece."
