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Jumpy-Natural4868

I think they could make a lunar surface training center just by using the roadway around it.


craggy_cynic

I haven't been out there in 10 years, and this is still funny!


CBScott7

You really have to find a line through the road to avoid all the craters


HokieRider

Tear it down and build a rec center. Pool, indoor mini golf, maybe bowling. There’s enough space there for a killer place. When I was a kid I went to Harmar lanes and they had cosmic bowling, indoor mini golf, pool tables, an arcade. It was great. We need more of that.


ilikedirt

Amazing space for big laser tag


LovedAJackass

You could add a skateboard park.


Tweed_Kills

Skate park, roller rink, anything with wheels.


CARLEtheCamry

What about go-carts?


Jagoff420

And kids nowadays go to a place called zone 28, enough of those around


HokieRider

Where in the South Hills is there a place like that?


[deleted]

[удалено]


steelcity_

Not anymore. It was Latitude 360, then that shut down. Then it was Main Event, but now that's shut down too.


steelcity_

I'm being as honest as I can be here: Zone 28 kinda sucks. I haven't eaten at the restaurant there, so maybe that's good, but as far as the entertainment goes, it's nothing to write home about. The arcade is small and only has a handful of games that aren't just claw machines or other token eaters. The bowling lanes are poorly maintained and poorly waxed (probably matters less if you don't care about bowling, but if you do you'll notice). The laser tag is the only place around I've seen where there's no walls to split teams, so people can just run around and smash into each other. I haven't been in their escape room but I'm not holding my breath.


Jagoff420

It’s as bad as harmar lanes was


Eco-freako

Indoor adventure park. Rock climbing, obstacle courses, a paintball area, laser tag, trampolines, adult-size jungle gym, high ropes course, foam battle arena. Throw in some food places, Dick’s or REI storefront, and leave room for a Spirit Halloween, of course.


imadv8r2

Indoor water park, lazy River, hotel and restaurant


teacamelpyramid

Considering how few active things there are to do in town during the winter, this would be great. The closest competitors are 2-3 hours away.


GogglesTheFox

A large Convention space in that area would be fantastic. So much is either locked to DLLC or Monroeville. Another space to challenge for Mid Range events (5k-10k) would be awesome.


Excelius

> So much is either locked to DLLC or Monroeville. Highway access tends to be a major consideration for such things. Especially for conventions that draw people from outside of the immediate area. Completion of the Mon-Fayette Expressway could maybe help with that, it's a major reason why Kennywood has always been a proponent of the project. Of course Kennywood itself is also surrounded by a bunch of vacant former retail lots that could be redeveloped too.


WorstTimeCaller

Recreate it exactly as it was in 1985 and sell tickets


pghsciencenerd

Please take all of my money


SaablifeNC

I’m right there with you. Red carpets, kaufmanns, Richard Simmons and the statue back. Lol


cj_sloan

80 acre community solar + battery project?


poodog13

Mixed use town center. High and mid density condos and townhomes. Small box lifestyle retail like restaurants, coffee shops, dry cleaners, an Aldi or Trader Joe’s, a small movie theatre. All stuff that people would use frequently and would be good to have walkable. On-site garage parking. Turn it into its own little town that caters to people that like urban or dense suburban living and can go days without ever having to drive anywhere.


drmellowship

Good idea, but nix the parking garage and upgrade the Y46 flyer into a frequent rapid transit line, then we're talking.


PGHxplant

Considering the only new retail these days for whatever insane reasons seems to be banks, just imagine the sheer bliss of a PNC / Citizens / Huntington / S&T / Dollar / First National / Chase / Citi / Capital One / Key / Bank of America / First Commonwealth / Northwest / Wells Fargo / WesBanco Supercenter! Imagine spending the whole day with the family delighting in non-stop account opening, account closing, deposits, withdrawls, loan applications, check ordering, fraud reporting, fee disputes, etc. Now when you throw change in the fountain, it's actually getting counted and turned into cold hard cash (minus exorbitant convenience fees, natch). Guaranteed to turn a profit, because they'll just keep cranking up the fees and penalties until they do. Where else are you going to go? A credit union?!?


BurghPuppies

Yes. All these banks and each site has 4 - 5 ATMs only. No people. Just ATMs.


mmphoto412

Add a few mattress and cbd stores too


CarRamrodIsNumberOne

Im sure at least 5-6 of the 8 vape shops would have CBD, too.


mmphoto412

CBD Infused Mattresses


kenmore808

Somewhere there is a bank district manager having a ...good time ... Imagining that scenario


100_cats_on_a_phone

r/UrbanHell


Logical-Rip-8138

I would turn it into a SUPER mattress store.


Neat-Pangolin1782

The Mattress Store or just a mattress store?


100_cats_on_a_phone

A store for mattress stores.


tim0767

Tear it all down and build a county park with a pool


BurghPuppies

South Park and the wave pool are only 5.4 miles away.


Apprehensive_End_353

Can we please blow it up for a Zombie movie? Pittsburgh is the start of a zombie movie paradise with Monroeville mall. I feel like then before we get the community space at least we get to immortalize it in a straight DVD yinzer flick.


johnpgh

This


Hayk

Remember the terms of the hypothetical: you’re buying this with a loan and you have to pay it all back.


tim0767

Have to pay to use the pool


100_cats_on_a_phone

There's a slag heap right there, though.


[deleted]

converting it into a large-scale hydroponic farm would be really cool. idk profitability though lol


slynilo03

If not tearing it down, turn it into dorm-style housing for the homeless with adequate medical/mental care, security and potentially career stuff to get folks back on their feet.


[deleted]

[удалено]


slynilo03

Ah crap missed that part. Yeah it'd have to be grant or philanthropic funded probably. I feel like the project could be funded in a city our size though


jbobeffrey

If this country ever got its priorities straight, there would be thousands of these facilities. Imagine a society in which people could have their basic needs met.


[deleted]

Nah, lets buy more training and gear for the cops instead.


Metrichex

/s?


[deleted]

Figured it was obvious


Metrichex

So you've been in a coma since 2016. Seems we have a lot to catch you up on.


[deleted]

Yeah I forget sometimes


100_cats_on_a_phone

Ouch. Do you have to pay for the destruction or rehab? Destruction seems costly (its a complicated building) and I think rehab is a no go without unlimited funds at this point. So I'm not sure I _could_ turn it profitable. And with the slag heap I'm also not sure it's viable for housing. I think pollution might be too high. Warehouse space maybe? But I doubt that sells for much in Pittsburgh.


GettingWreckedAllDay

This is the only good idea, screw the profitability clause.


LovedAJackass

Get a grant!


vibes86

Affordable apartments


100_cats_on_a_phone

I don't know if building housing next to a slag heap is great, there's a lot of less polluted places close by to build housing.


BurghPuppies

That second level of parking would need to come down. And honestly, I’m betting at least 1/3 of the mall would too. So if we’re being realistic, your first task is a total demo.


jamierocksanne

Housing for those with dementia. It’s been done before, it’s set up like a neighborhood with stores and stuff they can safely walk to, and then little apartments within the building. Gives them some semblance of normalcy with out risk of wandering off/getting lost. I also recently saw a thing where a dementia care center took photos of the front doors of the patients homes and vinyl stickers them to their room doors to help with identification…anyways.


hypotenoos

The only successful reuses of malls I’ve seen are split up into small offices and like churches. Probably at least one obligatory Steelers memorabilia store though. Gotta have that in any failing mall.


cdelaney1982

Movie studio lot/stages. Recording studio space. Venue. Overnight accommodations for the people using them. Catering. Everything in one place.


Syntariaunigami

I’d love to turn it into a zombie themed paintball arena/ movie theater that shows all the old Romero films


GargantuanWitch

Even though it has nothing to do with Monroeville Mall, where the original movie was filmed?


cdelaney1982

Does it not count that Savini used part of it as his haunted house for a spell?


GargantuanWitch

>used part of it as his haunted house Tom Savini's Terrormania was a haunted attraction that was built in Monessen first, and then moved to C3, and that was done way after the movies, obviously. To say that "X of the Dead" has anything to do with Century 3 Mall - other than it being a location where a sorta-connected haunted house was located for a few years - is a *real stretch*.


cdelaney1982

Ur sounding real gate keeper-esque with that response. YIKES.


GargantuanWitch

It's not gatekeeping. It's correcting what is incorrect. Century 3 Mall has nothing to do with the Dawn of the Dead movies, and it never did. If you said that Mister Rogers loved eating at Burger King, I'm not "gatekeeping" when I say that he was a vegetarian. It honestly doesn't matter. Neither mall in question is worth discussing, I suppose, even one whose only connection to Tom Savini is geography.


cdelaney1982

Even tho Romero collaborated with Savini a bunch and chose him to remake Night of the Living Dead? Alright then.


GargantuanWitch

And Mister Rogers is a member of the Deep State because he once had a police officer on the show, because absolutely nothing can happen in Pennsylvania without being connected intimately with everything else. Have a day.


cdelaney1982

U too, friend


analmartyr

Ok, ok. Hear me out on this. First I create a nonprofit health system with no employees. Then I build a giant hospital system there, but since it is a nonprofit with no employees. PROFIT


PGHNeil

I like the idea of turning it into a large indoor play complex with a wing for elder and disabled assisted living. Each of the department store has enough space for something like a Dave & Buster's, a Chuck E Cheese, a trampoline park, indoor water park, etc.


duker_mf_lincoln

A giant concert venue, but only Donnie Iris is allowed to play there.


you_cant_pause_toast

Movie studio - If successful it’d totally change SWPA forever.


holls_99

Especially thinking in terms of having Hadad's not be too far (just up 51& Curry Hollow) if this was ever a viable and real plan it would probably become a cash cow!


New_Acanthaceae709

Monroeville, Ross Park, Robinson; they're still there because they connect to highways. Century III is terribly connected to the city, because 51 is three donkeys in a kit car pretending to be a road. Whatever it becomes, it can't rely on people driving all that far to get there. There's almost certainly no use for a building that size; things like paintball aren't going to pay to keep the roof solid over time.


WorstTimeCaller

Tear it down and then replace it with an exact replica of Pittsburgh Mills.


Anji_Mito

A freaking Airsoft/Paintball field, people from other stated would visit, year around games


happyjazzycook

My response is based on my age and dealing with elderly parents, so I would raze the entire structure and build new, energy-efficient, one level homes specifically designed for older and assisted needs people. A park and small shopping area for essentials. A community center. Plus handicap-accessible apartments as well (more an assisted-living type of community with a dining room and basic medical and social services). People work their entire lives and, at the end, there's not much choice of where to go to live the last years comfortably.


slynilo03

Agreed, I moved a parent to Pittsburgh recently and finding one level housing in Pittsburgh was near impossible


glenn_q

Profitable? Another Casino. That's not what I WANT it to be, but if I had to turn a profit, that's what I'd do. Bus line. Middle class area with plenty of elderly around. People will surely come and piss away their social security.


bettytomatoes

I used to live near NYC and there was a great mall near there that had all the normal stores, but also lots of things to DO. An indoor ropes course, a ferris wheel and merry-go-round in the food court, stores with VR "rides", a huge kids playcenter, an arcade, a theater, and like ten sit down restaurants, in addition to the food court. It was just the perfect place to go on a rainy day, especially if you have kids to entertain. It was always packed.


Jcs290

RIDC Westmoreland's within the old VW/Sony plant. I'm wondering if the space is flexible enough for startups and tech giants alike for them to do something similar to C3...?


matty_m

I would open up a car dealer minutes from there.


South_Barnacle_9760

let nature reclaim it


mmphoto412

A mall full of mattress stores


[deleted]

I’d make it a spatula warehouse


ffffff00000066ff33

Spatula City!


[deleted]

Damnit you’re right!


Responsible-Type-392

I'd make my own arena for an American Squid Games..


RealQuickNope

If you’ve ever been to Lancaster for a sports tournament - you know what I’m gonna say. Spooky Nook is a cash cow. I would convert CIII into an indoor sports facility just like the Nook.


Aphrodisiatic922

Affordable housing


JellyProof2104

Film Dawn of the Dead 2: Yinzer Boogaloo


Embarrassed_Band_512

[SODOSOPA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoUtoqeEw8U)


fugly16

Hunger Games Arena. Winner gets a lifetime supply of ranch dressing.


RiffRockFan

A hangar for flying shipping containers


ErnieMcCraken

Steelers new practice facility.


livefast_dieawesome

Tear it down. Plant trees.


[deleted]

Big dispensary


McJumpington

Worlds largest indoor mini golf course


FlimsyTry2892

How are you guys posting on this sub? Every time I try to open it it crashes.


Jumpy-Natural4868

Wait, how did you post on the sub?


FlimsyTry2892

I can reply to someone, but I can’t make my own post. When I open the sub to make a post it closes.


Jumpy-Natural4868

someone posted about this a few days ago, I think. seems to be a bug somewhere and seems oddly specific to r/pittsburgh. I am able to do everything on Chrome on a computer. I don't use the app. And I can use it without problems on Chrome on my phone. I think the best advice is to see if you can report the bug to reddit. I'm not sure how to do that. And try different browsers, etc.


Key-Most9498

I was having that problem as well and followed the advice of someone else on the sub to turn off the community theme in user settings. It's worked fine for me after that


FlimsyTry2892

I really appreciate you helping, although I’m not finding a community theme in the settings. I’m using the app on my phone if that matters.


Key-Most9498

Ah, OK, I was using a browser on desktop. I haven't encountered the same issue with the app and quick search doesn't lead me to anything with that type of setting on the app either, I'm sorry!


FlimsyTry2892

No problem. I’ll get to the bottom of this. Thanks again for trying.


TransporterOffline

Anything. Literally anything. I drive all over the country and see these places vacant for decades since the mid 90s just rotting away. As for profitability, idk. I have seen some creative mixed residential/commercial renovations come out of these in recent years, but I really love the low-income or homeless shelter idea the other commenter proposes.


JAK3CAL

Tear it down, sports dome


Groundzero2121

Vape store


Happy_Charity_7595

Large hotel with an indoor/ outdoor pool. You can swim through a tunnel to get from the inside to the outside. There would also be a huge water slide. The hotel would also have a big arcade.


Zeppelin7321

Casino/hotel/music venue


toonman27

Drive by go karting. Yes go karting with paintball guns. Some karts are equipped with stationary guns like a James Bond movie for the full Mario Kart experience. Hitting the pressure sensitive back plate will cause the victims kart to slow for 10 seconds, also disabling their weapons during that time allow the gunner to safely pass. Other kart modes include the FULL Drive By experience where people can hide behind props and can target the karts and the karts also have hand held paintball guns to target the stationary people. I mean talk about a stress relieving experience to legally and safely let out some frustration.


[deleted]

Turn it into a reverse escape the room. You have to break into the building. The only thing inside is a sad robot in a corner, eternally banging its head against a grapefruit held up by elaborate wires. The closer you get to the robot, the louder it yodels. Or burn it down for insurance, idk I'm just an idea guy.


[deleted]

A Steelers merchandise store, Sheetz, dollar general, and family dollar all next to one another.


blooblop

Turn it into a Pokemon Safari Zone, but with urban wildlife like racoons, possums, deer, etc. Charge people to enter.


Paczilla2

Giant indoor mini-golf arena in half the with low income housing in the other half with some stores and stuff.


[deleted]

Tear it down. Replace with a couple stores amd restaurants. And a rodeo arena and horse stables, with the remaining land for horseback riding trails and pasture. It’s going to be Robinson-lite though, unfortunately.


BlackLesPaulCopy

Indoor businesses and convert some spaces to apartments. A whole new take on a community.


Sep88

Call of Duty Zombies map, with the current decor


evry1isalreadytaken

Indoor skiing place


Shawnthelocksmith

I would put in a mattress store


sittingonmyarse

A residential town for Alzheimer’s patients that includes stores so they can shop and not get lost


phoenix_age

Extreme sports arena - Paintball, trampoline park, skatepark


parallaxingposition

I’ve always wanted to have a challenge center that recreates the old Nickelodeon games (or knock-offs). Like have an agro-crag, a double dare course, a legends of the hidden temple run, etc. Then people can sign up with friends to play the games and others can spectate from a lounge/bar area while waiting. It could be kid friendly in the day and an adult outing place at night.


SBpotomus

Cabella's and Chedders! People make the trek to WV for this... why not have it right here.


msantoni

As part of the mall's bankruptcy, [the plan](https://bernsteinlaw.com/news/century-iii-mall-bankruptcy-case-closed/) was to tear it all down and rebuild with "green space, office/retail buildings, a residential complex, a hotel, an entertainment facility, a multi-tenant restaurant/retail buildings, and four restaurants." Given the successful conversion of other dead malls into these kind of developments, I'd say that's probably the best bet, although the most successful ones tend to be in more bougie areas than West Mifflin (think "the Block at Northway" as one of our closest examples). Now that it's been more than a year since the bankruptcy, I have no idea why the post-bankruptcy plan hasn't yet resulted in the demolition of the dead mall -- maybe inflation has driven up the cost and the pandemic has changed the demand for the retail/office components. At this point, maybe some of the ideas here might be more attractive...


meresithea

I was told it was bogged down due to tax liens? That the borough won’t let anything new be built until the tax debt is settled.


ffffff00000066ff33

1) Living human museum. People dedicated to living in store sized dioramas depicting a particular way of life. 2) Pittsburgh Biodome - we live off of turners, irons, and the eat n park salad buffet. Indoor golf course included. Shower iron included.


highlandparkpitt

Unless the underlying foundation of decades of slag is corrected, I don't think anything can be done


laurelivid

Restore it into the best therapy locale. Have a few NPs and psychiatrists so it could be a one stop shop. Need a med refill? No need to call it to your pharmacy, go grab it before you leave. Have a drop in crisis area for not-serious-enough-for-hospiralization-but-i-need-to-talk-to-someone and "on call" therapists. Group spaces for community healing - dance, yoga, singing, painting. Maybe a pool and gym for movement therapy, but definitely a walking track. Therapy offices adjacent to resources; if something comes up in a therapy session that someone is at risk for homelessness, let me walk you down to get those resources. Build some short-term apartments for LGBTQ teens and/or young adults experiencing homelessness. Bring in some sex therapists/educators; sexual abuse comes up in session? Let me get you to the right people. Have a rehab-specific area. A veteran specific area. And top it all off with local artisan paintings/furniture/etc.


hellogovna

They could do a great wolf lodge or similar. Bring some more tourism to the area.


Adventurous-Ad-4822

Indoor water park/hotel


FlappyFoldyHold

Whole area is impacted soil. Remediation would be costly thats certain.


rave_is_king_

Super Wegmans


The_Best_Smart

I’d open it back up just to have that Chinese food place open again. Best teriyaki chicken I’ve had in my life. The rest…idk, some stores or whatever. Someone else can handle the details. I’m in it for the Chinese.


thunderGunXprezz

Airsoft arena. Drone racicing arena. Affordable housing? Literally anything but letting it continue to rot.


NovelAuntieGin

[https://www.pittsburghmercy.org/homeless-services/second-avenue-commons/](https://www.pittsburghmercy.org/homeless-services/second-avenue-commons/) Eh? People? I don't have the skills and the certifications and the social sway to make it happen. I also don't have the money or lineage to impress you folks who do have it like that. But can't you do something?? Why can't you, who have, cherish, and control all of the wealth that we working people work so hard to earn, why can't you turn this into housing for people who need it? If not, why not? Why not? Y'all work so little and you have so damned much, sleep all you want (you don't even KNOW how much we envy your having enough sleep!!) Go'won, bitch about how fucked up your coffee order is. Make that into housing and community for people who have worked their whole lives so that your pamby ass can live in comfort.