Voorhees Town Center remains closed weeks after fire

Jim Walsh, Cherry Hill Courier-Post
·2 min read

VOORHEES — A struggling mall remains closed here more than three weeks after being damaged by a two-alarm fire.

Bright orange signs carry an "order to vacate" at several entrances to Voorhees Town Center, which was struck by a smoky blaze on April 19.

Township officials "decided as a group to condemn the building" after a meeting to review damage "to structural members in the fire area," Voorhees Fire Departent Chief Jim Poland said in a May 10 email.

The order, which affects the mall's common areas, will continue "until the owners of the mall could have a structural engineer deem it safe or any needed repairs were made,” said the chief.

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“I know the owners have had an engineer out but I don’t believe the report has been issued from their engineer yet,” he added.

A representative of the former Echelon Mall could not be reached for comment.

Voorhees officials have declared parts of a shopping center, the Voorhees Town Center, unsafe after a fire.
Voorhees officials have declared parts of a shopping center, the Voorhees Town Center, unsafe after a fire.

The building's website carries the message, "The mall will remain closed to the public during fire clean-up.”

Several tenants in the mall, with separate exterior entrances, re-opened within days of the fire.

These occupants, which remain open, include the township's municipal offices, Boscov's, Neurabilities Healthcare and a dental practice.

On the day of the blaze, firefighters arrived around 5:30 p.m. to find the mall filled with heavy smoke.

The fire began in a vacant area next to the sole occupied restaurant in the mall's food court, then spread upwards to the second story and roof, according to Poland.

It also burned in spaces behind walls, floor and ceilings, presenting a challenge to firefighters.

No injuries were reported, but a specialty unit from Camden County was needed to ventilate the large building, Poland added.

The mall, which has struggled for years as a shopping center, was proposed in 2020 to be the site of a mixed-use development with housing and entertainment attractions. But a Pennsylvania development firm dropped those plans during the pandemic.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Voorhees Town Center common areas closed after check of fire damage