It’s been 11 days since Alliant Energy shut off the power to the mall in Marshalltown due to unpaid utility bills.
John Hall, President and CEO of the Marshalltown Chamber of Commerce, said the New York company that owns the mall says electrical issues might be resolved by this Saturday, November 18 “This has been going on for about 10 months of unpaid electric bills, so I’ll believe it when I see it,” Hall says, “but I know that a lot of businesses out there are holding onto hope that is going to be the case.”
Hall briefed Marshalltown’s city council last night about the situation at the mall, which opened in 1972. “Of the 16 total businesses out there, I want to be clear that at this point none of them have deemed themselves permanently closed and so all are working on trying to find other answers,” Hall said, “but there are four closed inside the mall.”
The fire marshal ordered businesses that are only accessible through the mall itself to close. Businesses with an external exit have been paying Alliant directly and are being allowed to operate, however some had to rewire teir electrical hook-ups and water lines to meet the fire code. The New York company that owns Marshalltown’s mall also owns the Westland Mall in West Burlington and Lindale Mall in Cedar Rapids.
(Reporting by Zachary Tomesch, KFJB, Marshalltown)