California mall to be demolished

The abandoned Carousel Mall in San Bernardino, California—closed since 2017—soon may be a demolition worksite as government officials move forward demo permits and plans.

An report by KCAL-TV, based in Los Angeles, says a recent murder in the mall’s parking lot has provided the latest impetus for the city’s government to finalize permits to take down the sizable shopping mall.

The TV station says Carousel Mall sits on 43 acres and was built in 1972. KCAL indicates at its peak it housed more than 115 different stores and a movie theater. CommercialCafe.com says the mall has more than 435,000 square feet of indoor space.

Since the mall's closure, however, the TV station says nearby residents “have called for the demolition of the massive formerly popular destination, which has since become grounds for all sorts of crimes including a series of fires, break-ins and vandalism.”

The city of San Bernardino took ownership of the mall while it was vacant, and says it will try to line up a demolition contractor for the project by this October.

The TV station does not point to any specific redevelopment plans, although it says city representatives have expressed confidence they can recover the cost of demolition work by selling the land afterward.