Ala Moana Center cited for damage to parking lot ceiling

The city issued a violation notice to Ala Moana Center management last week after inspectors found exposed rebars in cracks along the ceiling of the mall’s mauka-Diamond Head parking lot.

General Growth Properties Ala Moana LLC has 30 days — until July 15 — to fix the damage or at least obtain a building permit for the work, according to the notice of violation issued by the Department of Planning and Permitting on Thursday.

DPP spokesman Curtis Lum said, however, that time extensions are typically issued to property owners who work cooperatively with the agency. Ala Moana Center said it has been in contact with the city about the notice.

A complaint about the violations was made, and an inspector went out to confirm the violations, the day before the notice was issued, Lum said.

The exposed rebars were found in the same general section of the mall as Hookipa Terrace, where one man was killed and another man critically injured after they fell several stories when the railing they were leaning on collapsed on Oct. 9.

“Ala Moana Center will comply with all requirements as indicated by the city in a timely manner,” said Francis Cofran, Ala Moana Center general manager, in a statement. “The safety and welfare of our customers and employees, as well as customer satisfaction, is one of the utmost importance to us and something we will continue to prioritize.” He noted that the area identified by DPP is part of a parking deck maintenance project already in progress.

General Growth is in the middle of a $4 million project to repair an undisclosed number of railings at Hawaii’s largest shopping center after the company was slapped with a notice of violation following the October collapse.

The notice issued for the latest violation said: “There are sections of the concrete ceiling with spalling, cracks and other ceiling damage exposing rebars on the Mall Level of the mauka side of the Phase II area of the Ala Moana Shopping Center. There are also two sections of exposed and corroded horizontal I-beams that are in need of repair or replacement in the same area.”

Civil fines — which could range between $100 and $1,000 a day per violation — are issued only if violations are not corrected, Lum said.