Century III Mall A Historic Site, Preservationist Group Says

PITTSBURGH, PA — It's a mammoth concrete building with boarded-up windows and pothole-plagued arterial roads telegraphing its decay, a building its owners have every intent to demolish. But the vacant Century III Mall is one of the sites the Pittsburgh Young Preservationists Association is targeting for its 2022 preservation efforts.

The association compiles an annual top 10 list of historic preservation opportunities, and Century III cracked the list for the first time in a video the organization just released. "These are all places that could serve their communities if they were to be saved," the video's narrators state. "As many of you know, it takes a lot of hard work from a lot of good people to preserve these sites."

Century III opened in 1979 and arguably was western Pennsylvania's busiest mall during its 1980s
heyday. Its decline was gradual, but the gradual loss of anchors such as Macy's and Sears had a snowball effect and prompted many other businesses to exit. The mall's interior closed in 2019 and its last anchor store, J.C. Penney, departed in 2020.

Las Vegas-based Moonbeam Capital Investments, the mall's owner, announced plans in 2019 to demolish the empty building and construct a new mixed-use development that could include offices, residential units, a hotel, entertainment sites and other uses. But Moonbeam declared bankruptcy, the plans didn't advance and there is no current reference to Century III on the company's website.

The video does not detail how the preservationists would advance plans to preserve the mall, which has more than 1 million square feet of empty shopping space on 40 acres of property, much of which contain roads now inaccessible to the public. What does the preservationists group believe is worth preserving?

"The mall features brutalism architectural designs representative of this period in history," the video's narrators state.

"Exterior walls are marked with patterns that intersect with varying materials that give the mall distinction among its regional counterparts. Intersectional (connections) among floors and walkways also (stood) out among mall patrons. The mall itself was built on a slag pile, giving it connections to the region's industrial narrative."

Be the first to know what's happening in your community and region. With a free Patch subscription, you'll always be up to date on local and state news: https://patch.com/subscribe.