Crews began demolishing Columbus' Eastland Mall over the weekend as the city preps to begin crafting a new community plan.
Workers started tearing down the mall late last week at the north side of the complex. Two excavators were slowly chipping away at the building Monday, tearing off chunks of what used to be the Lazarus department store at the mall.
Eastland Mall opened in 1968 and closed in 2022. At one time, it was known for its four anchor stores, Lazarus, JCPenney, Sear’s and Macy’s. New Orleans-based Eastland Holdings, LLC, bought most of the mall property on Hamilton Road for $9.7 million in 2015.
Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein said he is excited about the potential of what Eastland can become to the future of the east side of Columbus.
"It was an anchor in the in the 70s, in the 80s, that obviously like other other malls in the United States, it's deteriorated and eventually became essentially vacant," Klein said. "(The site) really has not realized its new potential and we can't do that until we get a blank slate out there."
The city's Eastland for Everyone Community Plan could help find a future for the Eastland Mall site since the plan's area includes the mall. The city is set to hold a celebration for the launch of the plan on March 6 at the Barnett Community Center.
A court agreement last year set a deadline for the demolition to start before this summer. The building has been experiencing health and safety violations at the property, including broken glass, parking areas in disrepair, and high grass, weeds and debris. The owners also were not keeping up with fine payments or bringing the mall up to code.
As the demolition progresses, Klein said the city has the ability to levy contempt against the owner if it stalls. Klein said the demolition has to wrap up by September under a court order and they are in touch with demolition company Loewendick to make sure the property owners keep funding the demolition.
"This is done on their dime. They are responsible for it. There are no taxpayer dollars going to be spent pursuant to this court order to clean up this site," Klein said.
