Century III Mall Demolition - May 17, 2024

One bridge to go and Sears will be detached from the main section of the parking deck. A small, isolated section is still attached around the front above the loading dock, along with some of the skylights and downlights still hanging on the side of the building above the lower entrance.
Work appears to be continuing inside the mall, as well, though updates are sparse.

[@jimmiller5600]

Century III opened in 1979. Last store closed in 2020. In 2024 the local government charged the owners with "criminal nuisance". Around my area most of the old enclosed malls are mostly or entirely being replaced by mixed use (housing, retail, office, restaurant, entertainment, commercial, etc.) multi-story planned unit developments.

[@Bigboybusington2988]

They should keep the Sears because the inside of that building is still in good condition. Same with the JCPenney. It’s also in good condition.

[@MrTsolar]

Agree about Sears, and also Ward’s (look at how clean the roof is on that store), but Penney’s fell apart over the last two years. It leaks almost as bad as the mall does. It seemed that one in every ten ceiling tiles upstairs were stained even when Penney’s was open.
It’s a shame that Phase 2 has so much damage. It’s the most architecturally interesting part of the mall. Too many roof penetrations and rusted out HVAC units. Part of me wonders if the big fire would’ve happened had the fire department shut off the power when the transformer between Sears and Entry F caught on fire back in 2020. The mall had at least two feeds from the utility. Perhaps Phase 2 (food court and ramps), Sears, and Ward were fed separately from the main part of the mall and could be disconnected without cutting power to the then-open Penney’s.