IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
The demolition of Carousel Mall is on hold, at least for the moment.
The city council is scheduled to discuss at its Dec. 7 meeting a proposal to level the abandoned structure for $7.7 million, said Councilman Theodore Sanchez.
Because the average price proposed by other demolition companies is closer to $10 million, the council wants to study the details of the lower proposal before deciding whether to accept that offer.
“We don’t want the price going up right before they start work because they found they missed something,” Sanchez said.”That can happen on a project like this, and it’s something we need to avoid.”
Carousel Mall occupies 43 acres in the central part of the city next to Interstate 215. In 2003 the two-story facility lost its last anchor tenant, JCPenney. The mall, which underwent years of decline, has been vacant since 2017.
San Bernardino officials want to replace the mall with a mixed-use commercial-retail-residential project.
What kind of residential and retail? Unless it’s for low income, no one would want to live in this getto much less shop here.
Let’s beautify our city and community San Bernardino! If the possible isn’t working, let’s try the impossible. I believe we need to stimulate our city’s economy. And though the city issues run deeper than a mere structure, I believe this building, restored to its previous use and glory as a mall, has the potential to restore vitality, economy, and culture in this community. The proper authorities and local councilmen should appropriately target the sociological factors and fluctuating dynamics within the community in efforts to mitigate the issues at hand and avoid a potential disaster- there is no need for San Bernardino to become southern California’s crime or poverty hub. The future of San Bernardino is in your hands.