In an earnings press release dated July 23, 2008, Glimcher Realty Trust announced that it "will not fund any further cash deficits at the property." The company also requested court-appointed receivership and liquidation for the property. In February 2009, the former Ice House ice skating rink, which had been closed the previous year, was replaced with a soccer field. However, these retail changes were accompanied by a degradation of the mall's physical appearance, which had deteriorated to the point that its owner, Glimcher Realty Trust, labeled the mall a "fixer-upper". In 2007, Charlotte's then-mayor Pat McCrory labeled the area "corridors of crap" due to its inexpensive and aging retail structures. In October 2008, the theater closed, one year after opening. On February 26, 2009 Sears Holdings announced that the Sears store at Eastland would close on May 31, another major blow to the beleaguered mall. In October 2009, ownership of the mall was transferred to the lender. In 2010, Burlington Coat Factory, the mall's sole remaining anchor closed   In October 2009, Renovatus, a Christian local church took up residence in the mall's long shuttered theater. Renovatus, which calls itself "A Church for people under renovation", hoped to help reverse the decline in fortunes of the mall and its surrounding area, and clear Eastland of the violent, dangerous stigma that surrounds it. However, with the mall's closure, the church vacated its space. In September 2009, the mall's owner said that if the city of Charlotte did not purchase the mall, it would be shuttered. The council decided against that on November 2006. On April 16, 2010, the remaining tenants were given notice to vacate by June 30, 2010 because of a foreclosure action filed against the mall. According to a letter sent to tenants dated April 16, 2010, "it is understood that the lender or any other party that acquires title to Eastland Mall at foreclosure will close the mall." On June 28, 2010, ownership of the inner stores, parking lot and a few of the smaller outside buildings surrounding Eastland Mall were sold by LNR, the loan servicer, to Boxer properties for $2.2 million. The outstanding principal balance on the loan was $42.2 million. The fate of the anchor stores, however, were left hanging in the balance. Boxer was expected to bring in retail and small-office tenants that fit with the diverse nature of Charlotte's east side, similar to the company's redevelopment of La Gran Plaza in Fort Worth, Texas.