The Bangor Mall has been condemned, according to signs posted in the doors on Monday afternoon.
It’s the latest blow to the mall owner, Namdar Realty Group, after more than two years of lawsuits and dwindling businesses inside the nearly 50-year-old mall.
“This structure has been deemed unfit for human habitation or use,” the signs read.
The condemnation comes as Namdar owes more than $2 million to the city and an insurance company after multiple lawsuits. A potential sale appears poised to fall through after one of the main financiers pulled out.
Bangor’s code enforcement office referred a reporter to city spokesperson David Warren, who confirmed that code enforcement was at the site Monday but declined to share any more details.
The signs are on dozens of doors around the mall, including ones that still have graphics from Spirit Halloween, which was temporarily located inside the mall prior to Halloween, on them. Doorways connecting J.C. Penney and Dick’s Sporting Goods to the rest of the mall were shut.
A J.C. Penney worker said the store was open to the rest of the mall Monday morning, but was closed in the afternoon.
Customers can still enter J.C. Penney and Dick’s Sporting Goods from their exterior doors.
A Bangor city employee put up the signs this afternoon and asked customers who were shopping to leave, according to a Spirit Halloween employee. Monday was the last day Spirit Halloween was going to be open in the mall, and a steady stream of people have attempted to get into the store for clearance sales after the signs were posted.
“The mall is shut down,” the employee told people walking by.
One couple who did not share their names said they were at the mall to pick up an order from one of the stores inside, but can no longer go in.
Lights and arcade games inside the mall are still turned on. Gates opening to the various stores are closed.
A spokesperson for Namdar did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A craft show planned for this weekend at the mall will go on as planned, according to a Facebook post by organizer Kathy Harvey. She owns the now-closed furniture store, where the show will take place.
One wing of the mall was previously condemned in January. The former Sears wing was closed and power was cut to that area. Stores relocated to other wings.
Namdar owes at least $2 million after losing three different lawsuits in just over the last year, two brought by the city of Bangor and one by the insurance company for the furniture store. A judge found Namdar committed multiple code violations, including issues with a leaking roof and a broken sewer line. Nothing has been filed in the city’s lawsuits since April, and it’s unclear if anything changed recently that spurred the city’s decision to condemn the property.
As of August, Namdar had not completed the court ordered repairs or paid the $1.1 million fine to the city.
A local developer was in the process of buying the property in hopes of turning it into a mix of housing and retail, although the deal stalled last month due to the departure of a key investor.