After a fire destroyed much of the property and caused $1 million worth of damage on June 6, 1973, a roof was added and the entire mall was enclosed.

At this time the "Shopping Plaza" in Eastland's name was changed to "Mall" and a Gee Bee discount store was opened.

In 1979, Century III Mall, the third largest enclosed shopping center in the world at that time, opened 10 miles (16 km) away in West Mifflin to further speed the decline of Eastland.

Benderson Development Company of Buffalo, NY purchased the mall from the bankrupt Gimbels department store two years later.

[1] For the next 20 years, Eastland tried to stay afloat with a variety of unique tenants, including a PennDOT state driver's license testing center, a beer distributor (Beer World, located in the old J.C. Penney building), a distribution center for Xerox, the local magistrate's office, a professional wrestling center (PWX, owned by James Miller), a bingo parlor (Eastland Social Hall Bingo), and a low power TV station, WBYD-CD.

By that point, trash cans holding water falling from the leaky roof abounded throughout the mall.

[1] Two tenants survived for the entire 42-year life of the mall, Valley Shoe Repair and Marc Anthony's Hair Salon.

Although some tenants supported keeping the mall open, North Versailles Township officials wanted to see the property cleared and replaced by new retail space or housing.