MILWAUKEE — The night before a court-ordered deadline to secure the Northridge Mall, TMJ4 News didn't see any noticeable changes to the property, construction crews, or equipment.
There was just one 1-800-Got-Junk truck.
China-based U.S. Black Spruce Enterprises owns the property which has sat vacant since 2003.
On Monday, a judge found it "unreasonable" for the company not the adhere to a 2019 agreement that set requirements to secure the property. The judge is now holding the company in contempt.
If the property is not secured by the end of the workday Friday, the owners will have to pay remedial sanctions of $2,000 per day until the property is secured.
RELATED COVERAGE:
- Judge: Northridge Mall owners given 5 days to secure property before daily $2K fines
- 'You're going to kill my firefighters': MFD responds to 4th fire at former Northridge Mall in 3 weeks
- Milwaukee leaders fed up with former Northridge Mall issues
Milwaukee resident Gene Lacy called the current state of the mall an "eyesore."
"Whoever owns it needs to either put it in operation or tear it down," Lacy said. "Whatever it is, it needs to be something that would enhance the community, that would be something that the community could use."
The abandoned building has also been a point of frustration for Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski over the years.
"My biggest concern, job one, is that my firefighters are being used for a private business's complete and total lack, and I will quote the judge's words, intentional and willful failure to comply with the previous court orders," Lipski said.
WATCH: Chief Lipski shares frustration over Northridge Mall
In the last month, the firefighters have been called to the mall four times for fires.
"These are the things that keep fire chiefs up at night," Lipski said. "To go repeatedly for something that should have been rectified long ago. If I were to have a firefighter injured or worse in that scenario, that's a wholly unacceptable extension of risk."
Chief Lipski said secure for him means, first and foremost, complying with the court orders.
"For me as the fire chief, [secured] is something that children and teens and others that would be out there to cause trouble, simply cannot get in," Lipski added.
He said that would include proper fencing, boards that fit over openings, proper signage and someone on the premises to make sure that all of those measures are working and staying in place.
In a statement Friday, Mayor Cavalier Johnson said, "I remain extremely concerned about the dangers Milwaukee firefighters are facing from the repeated fires at this location. Their safety is the paramount worry I have with the conditions at the former mall."
