The Salem Mall, dormant for more than a decade with debris still standing, will get $200K of cleanup

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

Trotwood
By Bailey Gallion
June 7, 2018
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The Salem Mall has been vacant for more than a decade, but the city and county will soon start a final cleanup of the area.

Montgomery County and the City of Trotwood have secured a $200,000 federal Community Development Block Grant to help with cleanup costs. The cleanup will likely cost more than that, said Erik Collins, director of the community and economic development department for Montgomery County.

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The property has been vacant since the city demolished the mall in 2006, and Collins said debris still remains from the demolition. The mall opened in 1966 but suffered a decline in the 1990s when two of its anchor stores, JCPenny and Lazarus, closed. Sears remained as a freestanding store.

Aerial view in December 2016 of the vacant Sears building, which was closed in January of 2014. The building is the last remnant of the Salem Mall. TY GREENLEES / STAFF

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Fred Burkhardt, executive director of the Trotwood Community Improvement Corp., said the cleanup may take a year or longer.

“We would really like to see this move faster, but projects this big don’t tend to move fast,” he said. “They tend to move at a glacial speed.”

Burkhardt said there are no plans yet for the future of the site.

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About the Author

Bailey Gallion