I just flew home from attending Living Dead Weekend 2026. This three-day event, held in Southwest Pennsylvania's Monroeville Mall, was an homage to the feature film "Dawn of the Dead." Now viewed as one of the best zombie horror films ever made, "Dawn of the Dead" had its United States premier -in Dallas- in April 1979. 

A great deal of the film takes place in Monroeville Mall, which -in 1979- was 10 years old. I'll add, at this juncture, that I am not a big fan of zombie flicks. Still, I wanted to be a part of this celebration of movie and mall, for, in addition to its significance as a horror movie, "Dawn" also serves as an historical record of a 1970s shopping mall.  

Hoping not to sound flakey, I'll confess that, after the first day of the big celebration, I saw the "Weekend" not as a horror film fest but as a personal mall pilgrimage. It all revolved around 1969. In May of that year, Monroeville Mall officially opened its doors. In September, I visited my first enclosed shopping center...Southwest Ohio's Dayton Mall. I became a "mall fan" at this time and remain one to this day.

For the architectural historian, today's Monroeville Mall has a great deal of intact original structure. Most common area is floored with circa-'69 polished terrazzo. Likewise, most common area ceilings and skylights are original. Two remaining anchor stores (which were Gimbels-Pittsburgh and the Joseph Horne Company) still have their original ultra-modern facades.

As one might expect, all 125 charter mall tenants closed down or moved out long ago. There's no National Record Mart, A Shop Called East or Pup-A-Go-Go. The famed Ice Palace skating rink was replaced by the Treats Food Court in November 1984. Since then, the mall has been bought, sold, expanded and renovated. 

Sitting on a Center Court bench this past weekend, I envisioned G.C. Murphy still being open for business, with the smell of fresh popcorn and candy wafting through the mall's Lower Level. And how about an imaginary trip to the renowned Gimbles Restaurant? We hear the cocktails there are spectacular...  

Pennsylvania's "Steel City" sits at the confluence of two major rivers; the Allegheny (upper left) and Monongahela (upper right). They merge to form the Ohio River (left center). Monroeville Mall was built on a plot located 10 miles east of the downtown Golden Triangle, in suburban Monroeville.

This sign, standing at the William Penn Highway entry, has enticed Pittsburghers to shop at the mall for many years.

A branch of the Gimbels-Pittsburgh chain anchored the west end of the mall between May 1969 and August 1986. After conversions to the Kaufmann's and Boscov's banners, the building was divided into vertically-stacked JC Penney and Dick's Sporting Goods stores.