What to do with the Orchards Mall is a question on the mind of Berrien County Commissioner Chokwe Pitchford. He told colleagues Thursday he’s been meeting with township representatives from his district, including Benton Township, and the topic of the mall has come up. Pitchford flatly told fellow commissioners he’s exploring avenues to see the mall torn down. He tells us there would be a better use for the property.
“There’s so much that we could think about doing there,” Pitchford said. “We could have a senior center. We could have a place where people could go and have meetings. There’s so much we can do. We just have to open our minds up a little bit and stop thinking that it has to be a thing, that a staple of the community has to be an old, decrepit Orchards Mall.”
So, what’s his plan?
“I want to have a building inspector from the township come in and take a look at it from the inside. Is there water damage? Is there mold? Is it safe for people to be in there and working. Does it meet health standards? Can we have the health officer and the health department go in and take a look and see what can be done?”
Pitchford has fond memories of the mall’s heyday, when his parents owned a chicken restaurant there. He says Benton Township deserves something better than what is now sitting on the site. He’s working to get an inspection of the building scheduled.
