The Moreno Valley Mall reopened Thursday after its owners addressed the safety concerns that prompted the city to shut it down last month.
On Feb. 19, city officials “red-tagged” the mall for the owners’ failure to resolve a multitude of issues related to its fire protection systems.
“The mall made incremental progress toward resolving the violations since the ordered closure and the Fire Department made itself available on a daily basis to the mall’s staff, consultants, and contractors to perform any necessary inspections and provide technical information,” the city said in a statement. “This was a joint effort to expedite the reopening of the mall in a manner that would be safe for the mall’s tenants, the tenants’ employees, shoppers, students, and other mall visitors.”
Dave Oates, spokesman for mall owners IPG Business Group, said in an Instagram post said that the operators are “thrilled to announce the reopening of the mall.”
“I know this closure created real challenges for many small businesses, employees, and families who depend on the mall, and I’m glad they can now reopen their doors, return to work, and continue serving our community,” Mayor Ulises Cabrera said.
The sprawling indoor regional mall is a centerpiece of Moreno Valley, serving customers from Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
It was built in 1992 on the former site of Riverside International Raceway, once considered one of the finest automotive racing tracks in the country and a regular draw across Southern California for decades before it closed in 1989.
The owners are not out of the woods yet.
They must bring fire doors into compliance with safety codes by the end of the month and bring the mall’s permanent emergency generators into compliance in less than 90 days, or the closure notice will be reinstated, the city said.
Other city complaints about IGP’s operation of the mall were outlined in a January letter to Ilbak that cited fire code violations and also complained about “property maintenance violations” that included severely cracked pavement and curbing, as well as dead plants outside. The mall had insufficient exterior lighting, the city said, and graffiti resulting from deferred or neglected maintenance.
Violations included failure to provide inspection, testing, and maintenance documentation for the mall’s fire sprinkler systems, fire alarm system, smoke control system, fire doors, fire standpipe systems, fire and smoke dampers, emergency generators, emergency lighting, and emergency exit lighting, the city said.
