A lack of heat and operational bathrooms are two reasons the city of Bangor condemned the Bangor Mall.
The city explained its reasoning on Tuesday afternoon, saying the “significant health and safety-related code violations” forced the condemnation.
For months the city has tried to compel mall owner, Namdar Realty Group, to fix the health and safety concerns, which could have allowed the mall to stay open, the city said. Signs condemning the mall were posted on Monday afternoon by city employees, but spokesperson David Warren refused to share more details that day.
“Unfortunately, the violations have reached a point that mandatory closure is necessary to protect the health and safety of employees and customers,” the city said.
Restrooms within the mall were not operational and there was no heat in various portions, the city said. The roof is still leaking — two years after the city filed a lawsuit about the issue — which caused electrical concerns at two corridor entrances, the city said.
The city said it cut power to those entrances.
J.C. Penney and Dick’s Sporting Goods, two of the mall’s anchor stores, remain open. The third anchor store, Furniture Mattresses & More, is also allowed to remain open and will host a craft show this weekend. That store, which no longer sells furniture, is not owned by Namdar.
The former Sears wing was condemned in January and power was cut to that area. Stores relocated to other wings.
The city said its economic development team is working with stores within the mall to offer any assistance it can.
Namdar has 30 days to appeal the condemnation. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
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.