SANFORD, Fla. — As of 11 a.m. Friday morning, power was still out at the Seminole Towne Center Mall

Tenants were surprised to find out they would not be able to open Thursday because they had no electricity.

What You Need To Know

  • FPL technicians shut off power at Seminole Towne Center Mall Thursday morning 

  • The move resulted in the facility having no power in common areas, the parking lot or hallways

  • The mall's ownership group told city officials they overnighted a check to FPL

Florida Power & Light technicians were seen turning off the power to the facility in the morning, and signs were posted indicating the mall was closed.

Normally the mall opens at 11 a.m., but shop owners inside the mall say the power went off shortly before nine in the morning.

According to Brady Lessard, the director of economic development for the city of Sanford, the ownership group for the mall is behind on its power bills. Lessard said some shops that own their own building and pay for their own power were able to open Thursday. 

While it was crickets in the mall Thursday, it sounded like the floor of a Vegas casino inside Elev8 Fun. The multi-activity facility is now in the 120,000 square foot location where Sears used to be. 

Early Thursday morning, though, Elev8 Fun corporate general manager Rick Dee said it was rather quiet as the day was getting started.

“I came in at nine this morning and power was out everywhere,” he said of the mall's common areas. “There were security guards everywhere. I stopped and asked what was wrong and was told the power is out.”

Signs were posted on the doors to the mall, and on the doors of the big-box shops that are open to stop potential patrons from going in to the main building.

“This is our door. We have full control,” Dee said, pointing to a giant sliding door that blocked entrance to the common area of the mall. “Today we were asked not to open the door by security.”

City officials said because the Kohan Retail Investment Group, which owns the common space of the mall, is very behind in their power bills, electricity was cut to the mall’s common areas, parking lot and hallways.

Dee said the closure will probably cause him to lose about 10-15% of his daily foot traffic business. But he said safety was a bigger concern, since his business is open until 11.

“I don’t want anybody hurt in my properties — thats not what I am in business for,” Dee said from the mall's parking lot, where the lights would not be on Thursday night. “I don’t want them jumped out in a dark parking lot, this will be very dark out here tonight.”

To help with safety, Sanford officials said they will have extra members of the police department on patrol in the parking lots at night. Dee said Elev8 Fun has also rented spot lights to help light their parking spaces.

Businesses connected to the mall like Elev8 Fun, JC Penny, Dillard’s, and Dicks Sporting Goods are all privately owned. That means they are open because they pay for their own power and their building.

The ownership group of the mall did not return a request for comment for this story. Lessard said he was informed the ownership group did overnight a check to FPL to pay their bill.