Heyl: Century III Mall In Its Apparent Death Throes

PITTSBURGH, PA - This is what mall food courts will look like after the apocalypse.

This is the food court at West Mifflin's Century III Mall, a dreary, desolate place where shadows greatly outnumber shoppers. The empty seats stand testament to a mall on its last legs. The only place doing any business in the food court is Italian Village Pizza, and that’s because it’s the only place remaining in the food court.

A recent report from Credit Suisse, a Wall Street financial services firm, predicted that up to 25 percent of America’s malls will close in the next five years. The evidence appears to be insurmountable that Century III will be one of them.

The signs are everywhere. The massive 1.2 million square-foot building is eerily quiet and has dozens of empty storefronts. Many of the escalators have been turned off. The water in the fountain has been drained, although signs still caution against playing in it. Trash receptacles are strategically placed to catch water leaking from the ceiling.

The space where Macy’s used to be remains vacant. The space where Sears used to be is empty and inaccessible. Dick’s sporting goods and JC Penney remain as anchors, but many of the smaller stores I passed had no shoppers. At more than one, bored employees were on their phones either playing games or texting.

It's a far cry from the 38-year-old mall’s heyday in the 1980s, when its corridors had the population of a small city, when its stores were packed with consumers and its food court sold, you know, food.

One of the few people in the mall on Friday was retiree James Peelor of Whitehall, who was sitting on a bench amusing himself with some scratch-off lottery tickets while his wife shopped at JC Penney. He said the mall’s dramatic decline was a shame.

“I was here when it first opened,” he said. “It was a really nice place back then.”

There was hope it would be again when Moonbeam Capital Investments of Las Vegas purchased Century III in 2013 for a paltry $10.5 million. Moonbeam pledged to fill the mall with more national chain stores and restaurants, add a state-of-the-art movie theater with stadium seating and have more out-parcels.

Two years later, a plan to dramatically reconfigure the mall surfaced on Moonbeam’s website. The proposal called for converting the mall into more of an outdoor complex and adding a theater, hotel and medical offices.

But the plan abruptly was pulled from the site and Moonbeam officials haven’t discussed their intentions since. A call to Moonbeam Friday wasn’t returned.

Despite Moonbeam flatteringly and inaccurately labeling Century III a “leading retail destination” on its website, there’s scant evidence the company has any plan for the mall other than to shutter it or let it deteriorate until it collapses.

As I prepared to exit the place, I felt water drop on my head. I looked up and saw the sky. There’s a hole in the building’s ceiling, and rain was falling through it.

Hopefully, JC Penney will stick around a while longer. You can buy an umbrella there.

Eric Heyl is Patch's Pittsburgh field editor. Reach him at 412-334-4033 or Eric.Heyl@Patch.com.

Photos by Eric Heyl/Patch staff.