toledoblade.com --

Toledo will shut down the nearly empty Southwyck Shopping Mall if its owners do not clean up toxic black mold and asbestos contamination found there last week, the city said Thursday.

The management of the mall will receive 72-hour orders, according to a statement from the city.

"The present condition of the mall makes it a health hazard for the public and employees working there," said Chris Zervos, the city’s commissioner of building inspection. "They’ll have 72 hours to clean up the mold and secure the asbestos so dust is not allowed to escape into the public areas of the mall."

The mall will be closed Monday if the contamination is not cleaned up, the statement said.

The inspections, which included fire and safety, were conducted Friday.

Tim Murphy, Toledo’s commissioner of environmental services, said evidence of asbestos was found in the former Montgomery Ward store.

The black mold was observed on the ceiling in the main concourse of the nearly vacant shopping mall, he said.

About six stores are operating at the shopping center, 2040 South Reynolds Rd.

The former store is not accessible to the public but maintenance personnel frequently have entered and could allow asbestos to escape into the public areas of the mall, Mr. Zervos said.

"I hope it does not come to the point where we have to shut down the mall," said Mayor Carty Finkbeiner. "If it does come to that, the city of Toledo department of development will work with current tenants to assist them in their relocation efforts."

The mayor also said: "We don’t want to inconvenience these business owners or their employees. But we have a responsibility to protect their health and the health of the general public."

Developer Larry Dillin this week said he is continuing his efforts to buy the South Toledo mall and will market the project at a shopping center convention that begins later this month in Las Vegas.

Tom Morgan of Dreiseszun & Morgan, managing partner for the mall ownership group, owns half the mall, not including the closed Dillard’s store, along with his uncle, Sherman Dreiseszun, who died Dec. 2.

Dillard’s Inc. of Little Rock owns the other half of the mall and the former Montgomery Ward anchor building.

Dillard’s was the remaining anchor at the 35-year-old mall. The Dillard’s store and its adjacent parking lot are owned by shopping-center operator M.G. "Buddy" Herring, Jr., president and chief executive of the M.G. Herring Group, Dallas.

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