Century III Mall Owner Significantly Fined Over Safety Issues

PITTSBURGH, PA — The owner of the defunct and dangerous Century Mall has been ordered to pay $150,000 to in safety-related fines to West Mifflin Borough, which has grappled with ongoing issues with the deteriorating structure.

An Allegheny County judge made the ruling Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.Though significant, the fine against Moonbeam Capital Investments was lowered from the $240,000 in fines issued in July by District Judge Richard Olasz, who ruled the owners had violated West Mifflin laws on sanitation, unsafe structures, weeds and high growth.

Though a victory of sorts for Moonbeam, the company will go to court again next week for a hearing on West Mifflin's decision to condemn the building in July.

Once one of the largest malls in the world, Century III's interior closed in 2019. J.C. Penney, which had an exterior entrance, was the mall's last remaining store; it went out of business in 2020.

Since then, squatters and drug activity have been reported in the mall's derelict ruins. Authorities repeatedly have advised people against breaking into the graffiti-strewn building, which has mold, pooled water and no power.

In August, portions of the roof of the mall collapsed in the area of an April fire in the mall that is suspected to have been deliberately set.