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 GREENGATE store, a 3-level (184,900 square foot), Pittsburgh-based Joseph Horne Company, was dedicated in March 1965. The mall proper, encompassing 2-levels and a total of 420,000 leasable square feet, was christened on August 18, 1965.
At the time, there were forty-five stores and services, including A Shop Called East, Carlton Men's Shop, Marianne Shop, Spencer Gifts and a G.C. Murphy 5 & 10. In October 1966, a 2-level (70,000 square foot) Montgomery Ward was dedicated. It was housed in a new East Wing, which included Thrift Drugs and an A & P supermarket among its eighteen tenants.
The third -and final- stage of construction was finished in January 1971. It brought a 2-level (140,000 square foot) J.C. Penney and North Wing of seventeen stores. These included Foxmoor Casuals and Baker's Shoes. The fully realized GREENGATE MALL encompassed 615,000 leasable square feet, with a retail roster of eighty stores and services.
The shopping center encountered a major rival in 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. GREENGATE NORTH included the General Cinema Corporation Greengate Mall Cinema 1-2-3. This venue showed its first features in May 1977. The GREENGATE EAST strip center featured a Giant Eagle supermarket.
After the closing of the mall's A & P, in the late 1970s, the Montgomery Ward store was enlarged. It expanded into the A & P space, with a small eastern addition built. The refurbished Wards encompassed approximately 120,000 square feet. The mall was given a face lift 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 space at GREENGATE in May 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. In October of 1994, the Joseph Horne Company location was rebranded by Columbus, Ohio-based Lazarus. This store was shuttered in February 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. Mall tenants were given eviction notices in July 2001. 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.
A new, open-air complex, GREENGATE CENTRE, debuted April 13, 2005. Anchored by a 1-level (203,600 square foot) Wal-Mart SuperCenter, the venue included Linens 'n Things, Fashion Bug, Jo-Ann Fabrics, GNC, Panera Bread and Steak & Shake.
Sources:
http://www.greengatemallrevisited.com / Gary Nelson webmaster
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania tax assessor website
http://www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.thfrealty.com / THF Realty
The first operational GREENGATE store, a 3-level (184,900 square foot), Pittsburgh-based Joseph Horne Company, was dedicated in March 1965. The mall proper, encompassing 2-levels and a total of 420,000 leasable square feet, was christened on August 18, 1965.
At the time, there were forty-five stores and services, including A Shop Called East, Carlton Men's Shop, Marianne Shop, Spencer Gifts and a G.C. Murphy 5 & 10. In October 1966, a 2-level (70,000 square foot) Montgomery Ward was dedicated. It was housed in a new East Wing, which included Thrift Drugs and an A & P supermarket among its eighteen tenants.
The third -and final- stage of construction was finished in January 1971. It brought a 2-level (140,000 square foot) J.C. Penney and North Wing of seventeen stores. These included Foxmoor Casuals and Baker's Shoes. The fully realized GREENGATE MALL encompassed 615,000 leasable square feet, with a retail roster of eighty stores and services.
The shopping center encountered a major rival in 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. GREENGATE NORTH included the General Cinema Corporation Greengate Mall Cinema 1-2-3. This venue showed its first features in May 1977. The GREENGATE EAST strip center featured a Giant Eagle supermarket.
After the closing of the mall's A & P, in the late 1970s, the Montgomery Ward store was enlarged. It expanded into the A & P space, with a small eastern addition built. The refurbished Wards encompassed approximately 120,000 square feet. The mall was given a face lift 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 space at GREENGATE in May 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. In October of 1994, the Joseph Horne Company location was rebranded by Columbus, Ohio-based Lazarus. This store was shuttered in February 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. Mall tenants were given eviction notices in July 2001. 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.
A new, open-air complex, GREENGATE CENTRE, debuted April 13, 2005. Anchored by a 1-level (203,600 square foot) Wal-Mart SuperCenter, the venue included Linens 'n Things, Fashion Bug, Jo-Ann Fabrics, GNC, Panera Bread and Steak & Shake.
Sources:
http://www.greengatemallrevisited.com / Gary Nelson webmaster
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania tax assessor website
http://www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.thfrealty.com / THF Realty
"Greengate Centre" article on Wikipedia
