Artist creates Christmas ornaments with Century III Mall demolition, Sinkhole Bus decoration
A local artist has crafted unique gifts for the Century III Mall or Sinkhole Bus lovers on your Christmas list.
Toby Atticus Fraley unveiled a Century III Mall Christmas ornament to commemorate the mall, a once-popular shopping spot that is being demolished. He also is bringing back an ornament he made showcasing Pittsburgh’s Sinkhole Bus, which fell into 10th Street Downtown in 2019.
Fraley, 47, of Bridgeville, said he’s been thinking about making a Century III Mall demolition ornament for more than a year. He initially planned to unveil one last year, but crews hadn’t started to tear down the mall yet.
He opted for a lanternfly ornament design last Christmas instead.
The Century III Mall was condemned by West Mifflin Council in 2023 amid concerns the vacant property was becoming a nuisance. The mall was shuttered in 2019.
Demolition started in March.
“I fondly remember going there with my family every Christmas,” Fraley wrote on his website. “I’d always visit the model store in that odd little nook tucked under the staircases with the cobblestone floor.”
Fraley’s ornament features the a bulldozer plowing into the side of the mall.
It’s on sale now for $32, plus shipping costs.
Fraley also is bringing back his Sinkhole Bus ornament, which he launched for the holiday season in 2019.
The bus was at a traffic light at the intersection of 10th Street and Penn Avenue on Oct. 28, 2019, when a 60-foot piece of roadway fell. The back end of the bus sunk into the hole. No one was hurt, and the incident quickly became a meme, inspired Halloween costumes and became part of holiday displays.
Fraley on his website said he was surprised how many requests he still gets for his Sinkhole Bus ornament.
To commemorate the fifth anniversary of the event, he’s bringing the ornament back. People can purchase the ornament, featuring a blue bus like the one that fell into the Downtown sinkhole, for $32, plus shipping.
A new limited-edition, holiday-themed version also is available for $50. That one features a red bus and on a green-and-red base that reads “Pittsburgh 2019.”
Fraley’s first foray into unique Pittsburgh-themed ornaments with the Sinkhole Bus generated more buzz — and more orders — than he had expected.
“The first year I almost had a mental breakdown building all those buses,” he joked.
Now, he starts earlier.
Fraley began building up a stockpile of Century III Mall ornaments in August. He first 3D prints a model, then uses that to craft a silicone mold. Once the design is perfectly refined, he makes a gang mold that allows him to make four ornaments at a time. He sands and paints each one before shipping them out.
“It’s kind of like I have a toy factory in my basement,” he said.
Fraley in 2020 created an ornament showcasing the filled-in sinkhole. He said he looks every year for new ideas for his next ornament.
“It’s got to be newsworthy and it’s got to look cool,” he said.
Fraley said putting together thousands of ornaments takes a lot of time and effort. But if it brings joy to others in the Pittsburgh region, Fraley said, it’s worth it.
“I like Pittsburgh a lot,” he said. “I really appreciate that people get excited about this. I feel like I can’t let them down.”
Julia Burdelski is a TribLive reporter covering Pittsburgh City Hall and other news in and around Pittsburgh. A La Roche University graduate, she joined the Trib in 2020. She can be reached at jburdelski@triblive.com.
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