EVERETT – An old movie theater and another vacant building at Everett Mall will be demolished in the coming weeks as the prelude to real progress on the shopping center’s long-delayed redevelopment.
Linda Johannes, Everett Mall’s general manager, said bulldozers will start tearing down the cinema building on West Mall Drive on Nov. 1.
The other building, which had housed Maynard’s Baseball Academy, is on the south end of the mall’s main parking lot. It will come down soon after Nov. 1. The 24,000-square-foot structure dates back to the 1960s, when it was a Sears store, Johannes said.
Dave Martinez, project supervisor for the mall’s general contractor, Bellevue-based S.D. Deacon Corp. of Washington, said it should take about two weeks to demolish both buildings.
The work, along with some improvements to the main shopping center between now and Thanksgiving, are tangible signs that the mall’s new owner is serious about upgrading the property.
Twice before, in 1998 and 2002, the mall’s previous owners formulated redevelopment plans for the 30-year-old complex. Though some interior renovation was done in 2002, the planned expansions never took place.
When California-based Steadfast Commercial Properties bought the mall in June for $50 million, the new owner pledged to get plans back on track.
The company will unveil full details of its redevelopment plan in mid-November. It reportedly includes a large shopping annex on the site of a former strip mall along West Mall Drive.
In the meantime, workers are repairing the mall’s roof, which was last done in the late 1980s and early ’90s, and hooking up additional lighting fixtures to brighten the mall’s interior spaces.
“These are addressing some of the deferred maintenance items and gussying the place up a little,” Johannes said.
Repairs to floor tiles and upgrades to the mall’s electrical system, parking lot and landscaping also are scheduled during the next month. Finally, new signs should grace the mall’s entrances in time for the holiday shopping season, Johannes added.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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