STEUBENVILLE — Total Finance, the owner of the Fort Steuben Mall, has a little more than two weeks left to decide whether to address building code concerns or close the aging shopping center, which city code officials have declared “unsafe for occupancy and uninhabitable.”

On Monday, City Manager Mike Johnson said Total Finance had requested two extensions to the 30-day deadline imposed in an April 27 letter from code officials. Both were denied.

“On May 4, the mall owner requested a six-month extension to comply with the city’s April 27 letter,” Johnson said. “The city responded (two days later) that the April 27 letter provided a 180-day window to make the necessary repairs. The 30-day period referenced in the April 27 letter was to allow sufficient time to obtain the required engineering reports, inspections and temporary safeguards necessary to permit limited occupancy of portions of the mall while corrective work is performed; thus, the extension request was denied.”

Then, on May 6, he said Total Finance requested at least a 60-day extension to try to meet the city’s requirements “to locate a qualified professional to address the requirement for engineering reports.” That request was also denied, with city officials pointing out that they had requested an action plan from the owners on Feb. 3 outlining “how identified deficiencies would be addressed moving forward.”

“The city received no response or corrective action plan,” he said. “The letter dated April 27… clearly outlined minimum requirements necessary to permit partial occupancy of the structure. The city believes the 30-day timeframe provided was reasonable and sufficient to retain the appropriate contractors and design professionals had corrective efforts been initiated at that time; thus, the extension request was also denied.”

The city’s April 27 letter detailed alleged code violations that left the building unsafe for occupancy, including shifting storefront facades with displaced glass panels, uneven flooring with major concrete deviations, broken skylight glass, roof leaks, odors indicative of possible mold or mildew and large, deep potholes in the parking lot and on Mall Drive.

City officials have said they will condemn the building unless corrective measures are taken. Eight stand-alone businesses — 7 Ranges, J.C. Penney, Walmart, Texas Roadhouse, Eat’n Park, The Shoe Department Encore, Aspen Dental and Dunham’s Sporting Goods — would not be impacted.

Should Total Finance opt to undertake the required repairs, smaller businesses would be permitted to relocate to vacant storefronts near the main entrance, provided temporary floor-to-ceiling walls are installed to seal off affected sections of the mall.