What some perceive as the continued decline of the Schuylkill Mall took place in October when the owner of the mall filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Before doing so, the mall was up for sheriff sale on June 17 at the Schuylkill County Courthouse; however, the sheriff sale of the mall did not occur.Chapter 7 permits the assets to be sold to pay off creditors. Empire Schuylkill LP owns the mall. The filing was done in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Columbia.At the time of the filing, total liabilities were listed as $30,408,168.99. Of that, $27,432,905.10 are owed to creditors who have a secured claim to property and $2,975,263,89 is in unsecured claims. Assets totaled $265,178.74. Most of the secured claim is owed to Walnut St. 2014-1 Issue LLC, who hold the mortgage, and $4,029 to Bancorp Bank. Forty creditors have unsecured claims.William G. Schwab, bankruptcy trustee, Lehighton, was appointed to operate the mall for 90 days, after which he must file a report with the bankruptcy court and the U.S. Trustee Office of investigation. The mall’s future will be decided after that.While that was going on, the mall saw the departure of a long-term tenant.Black Diamond Antiques had been at the mall for 18 years. The mall’s scheduled sheriff sale was given as the reason for the closure, even though that sale did not occur.RadioShack and Sprint stores closed in March. RadioShack was an original tenant at the mall when it opened in 1980. The Sprint store was located in RadioShack.The Fairlane Village mall in Norwegian Township and the Kings Village mall both got new owners this year.The Fairlane Village mall was bought by two Delaware-based companies for close to $13 million earlier this year. Pottsville Mall LLC and Pottsville Commons LLC purchased the mall along Route 61 for $12,875,000. The deed was recorded in October but dated Sept. 15, according to newspaper archives.The Kings Village mall was bought for $4,214,000 by G. Davis Properties LLC, Lansdale. The property is between Minersville and Pottsville along Route 901.Lykens Valley shopping centerA new owner assumed possession of the Lykens Valley Shopping Center for $1.25 million, according to the Dauphin County Recorder of Deeds Office. RJB Jr. LLC, 3600 Old Gettysburg Road, Camp Hill, bought the Elizabethville plaza from Kocher Enterprises Inc., 510 Union St., Millersburg, on Aug. 31. The deed information was recorded Sept. 26.Distributed by Associated Press