Top Urban Decay

Atlantic Mills 120 Manton Ave. Providence

It might be described as the antithesis of the Providence Place Mall. There is no Talbots, Nordstrom or Sunglass Hut at Atlantic Mills, a magnificent former textile mill in Olneyville on the west side of Providence. But if you're in the market for gravity bongs, du-rags, vacuum-formed plastics or a wide selection of discount furniture, this deteriorating landmark is the place for you.

Getting to the mill requires crossing a filthy, foamy stretch of the Woonasqua-tucket River - no WaterFire here. Two circular domed towers rise at the front of the sprawling, three-story brick mill. The ring of balustrades at the base of each dome and their once-opulent painted stripes are marks of an era when someone thought it sensible to fuse industry and fine architecture. For this we should be grateful.

The building is in various stages of disrepair. Missing or boarded windows abound. The domes - one of which has lost its lantern cap - house spiraling wooden staircases that have seen better days. Though the doors to the towers are open, the domes are not accessible. At the top of one tower, a zealous explorer will face a locked door reinforced with crude boards and barb wire at the stretch of stairs leading to the dome.

What is now Atlantic Mills was constructed in halves in the 1860s and 1880s by the Atlantic Delaine Company, which "by 1865 was best known for its fine alpacas," according to a 1986 publication of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission. The central building and surrounding mill complex changed hands several times over the years and produced a variety of fabrics, such as worsteds and khaki.

It was in 1953, when all milling operations ceased, that Atlantic Mills began its transformation into the shopping destination it is today. Besides a few furniture retailers and other businesses, the Big Top Flea Market, which occupies much of the lower level of the mill, offers booths such as Honest Bob's Discount Smoking Accessories, Victoria's Perfume Place, Socks Island and The House of Watches and More. Tools, vacuum cleaners, incense and all manner of tchotskes can be found here.

On a day soon after a series of torrential downpours flooded the flea market, shop owners were still cleaning and mopping up around their booths.

"It's been one of those weeks," said Honest Bob, a heavily pierced man who, undeterred, had moved from his flooded shop space and was hocking his wares from the entryway of the flea market.