Lincoln Highway / US 30 and North Greengate Boulevard
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
New Jersey's CHERRY HILL CENTER, the first collaboration of mall architect Victor Gruen and developer James Rouse, was dedicated in October 1961. The second Gruen-Rouse mall project was developed, in the southeastern outskirts of Pittsburgh, between 1964 and 1971.
GREENGATE MALL, Greater Pittsburgh's third fully-enclosed shopping center, was built on a 55-acre tract, located 32 miles southeast of the downtown "Golden Triangle." The mall site was situated just outside the western corporate limits of the city of Greensburg, in a section of Westmoreland County known as Hempfield Township.
The first operational tenant, a 2-level (130,000 square foot), Pittsburgh-based Joseph Horne Company, was dedicated on March 8, 1965. The store featured "Skyscape," a hanging sculpture created by Pittsburgh's Virgil Cantini. The Phase I mall, dedicated on August 18, 1965, encompassed 2-levels and a total of 420,000 leasable square feet.
The first operational tenant, a 2-level (130,000 square foot), Pittsburgh-based Joseph Horne Company, was dedicated on March 8, 1965. The store featured "Skyscape," a hanging sculpture created by Pittsburgh's Virgil Cantini. The Phase I mall, dedicated on August 18, 1965, encompassed 2-levels and a total of 420,000 leasable square feet.
There were forty-five stores and services, including A Shop Called East, National Record Mart, Carlton Men's Shop, Singer Sewing Center, Marianne Shop, Thom McAn Shoes and Spencer Gifts. A (30,000 square foot) G.C. Murphy 5 & 10 was the 512th store in the chain. The Phase I mall was completed by the opening of two stores.; an A & P supermarket, dedicated on May 24, 1966, and 2-level (74,500 square foot) Montgomery Ward, which welcomed first shoppers on July 20, 1966.
A Phase II mall expansion opened on September 16, 1970. The addition encompassed 46,000 square feet and added seventeen stores to the directory. Tenants included Baker's Shoes, Brooks Fashions, Card Mart, Tobacco Village and the La Strada sidewalk cafe. 6,600 square feet were added to the existing G.C. Murphy. A 3-level (140,000 square foot) J.C. Penney -completing the expansion- was dedicated on January 14, 1971. Now fully-realized GREENGATE MALL encompassed approximately 615,000 leasable square feet, with a retail roster of eighty-five stores and services.
The shopping center encountered a major rival in February 1977. WESTMORELAND MALL {3.6 miles east, in Westmoreland County) spanned 850,000 leasable square feet and was eventually expanded to 1,283,500. As a competitive measure, outparcel strip plazas were added to the periphery of GREENGATE MALL. The NORTH PLAZA was completed between 1977 and 1979. It housed retail stores, offices and the General Cinema Corporation Greengate Mall Cinema I, II, III. This venue showed first features on May 27, 1977. GREENGATE EAST, dedicated in March 1981, featured a (36,000 square foot) Giant Eagle supermarket.
The shopping center encountered a major rival in February 1977. WESTMORELAND MALL {3.6 miles east, in Westmoreland County) spanned 850,000 leasable square feet and was eventually expanded to 1,283,500. As a competitive measure, outparcel strip plazas were added to the periphery of GREENGATE MALL. The NORTH PLAZA was completed between 1977 and 1979. It housed retail stores, offices and the General Cinema Corporation Greengate Mall Cinema I, II, III. This venue showed first features on May 27, 1977. GREENGATE EAST, dedicated in March 1981, featured a (36,000 square foot) Giant Eagle supermarket.
The mall's A & P was shuttered in the late 1970s. Montgomery Ward expanded into the vacant space, with an eastern addition also built. The enlarged store, completed in the spring of 1979, now covered 127,000 square feet. A third floor was added to Horne's, with that store encompassing 184,900 square feet. A mall-wide face lift was performed in 1985, with the Picnic at the Gate Food Court installed in common area adjacent to Wards.
Unfortunately, by this time, WESTMORELAND MALL was firmly entrenched as the area's preeminent shopping center. J.C. Penney vacated its GREENGATE space on April 30, 1994, opting for a newer and larger store at WESTMORELAND. The old Penney's at GREENGATE was re-leased as Expo Center, which hosted occasional trade shows. The Joseph Horne Company was acquired by Cincinnati's Federated Stores, who shuttered Horne's stores on August 29, 1994. They were rebranded under the Columbus, Ohio-based Lazarus nameplate. The GREENGATE Lazarus went dark in March 1998.
The "underperforming" mall was acquired by the New York City-based Property Holding Company in August 1998. They sought to reinvent the struggling center as NET TECH 30, a telecom complex. This initiative failed. Montgomery Ward shut down in March 2001. Remaining mall tenants were given eviction notices in July. Virtually vacant, GREENGATE was sold again in February 2003. The new owners, Saint Louis-based THF Realty, dispensed with any notions of its reinvention. The "antiquated" mall was demolished in 2003, leaving the NORTH PLAZA and GREENGATE EAST structures standing.
They were worked into GREENGATE CENTRE, an open-air power plaza, dedicated on April 13, 2005. This complex was anchored by a 1-level (203,600 square foot) Wal-Mart SuperCenter. Inline stores included Linens 'n Things, Fashion Bug, Jo-Ann Fabrics, GNC, Panera Bread and Steak & Shake.
Sources:
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The News-Dispatch (Jeannette, Pennsylvania)
http://www.greengatemallrevisited.com / Gary Nelson webmaster (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania tax assessor website
https://www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.thfrealty.com / THF Realty
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania tax assessor website
https://www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.thfrealty.com / THF Realty
"Greengate Centre" article on Wikipedia
