Major investment coming to help rehabilitate former Century III Mall site
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. (KDKA) -- State and local leaders are expected to announce a major investment today aimed at helping rehabilitate the former Century III Mall site in West Mifflin.
Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor, Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, state Senator-elect Nick Pisciottano, West Mifflin Mayor Chris Kelly, and representatives from Moonbeam Capital, the owners of the property, are all expected to be on hand Thursday to discuss the investment plans.
Earlier this year, Pisciottano, then a state representative, announced that he had helped to secure $1 million in grant funding for the redevelopment of the mall property.
Century III Mall's history and surrounding court battles
The former mall, once the third largest in the world, opened in 1979 and was sold to Moonbeam in 2013. The company promised to revitalize it, but in 2019, the borough determined the building to be out of compliance and the mall closed.
West Mifflin Borough Council unanimously voted to condemn the property last year.
Court battles between Moonbeam and the borough forced a judge to order the two sides to work in good faith and get the building torn down.
That ruling came following several incidents where people were trespassing inside the building, including one where seven people were arrested.
In the wake of the judge's decision, Neiswonger put demolition equipment in place and started to tear down parts of the structure.
Incidents at the site of the former mall
In April of 2023, the mall was the scene of a fire investigated as arson. Investigators said they found accelerant present on some of the debris collected at the scene.
A YouTuber from Ohio and two other people he was with were charged with breaking into the mall later in 2023. Police said he filmed the break-in, and a Clairton man who was also allegedly exploring the mall that day with an unidentified woman was charged.
In June of 2023, a teenager fell through the roof of the mall while filming a TikTok and was hospitalized. The West Mifflin police chief said he was charged with trespassing.
