WESTGATE CENTER
West 210th Street and Center Ridge Road / US 20
Fairview Park and Rocky River, Ohio
The first shopping mall in Greater Cleveland -as well as Ohio- was developed by a joint venture of Anthoni Visconsi and B.L. Boykin & Son. The complex was designed by William T. Snaith, of New York City's Raymond Loewy Corporation, and the Fordyce, Hamby, Strobel & Panero firm.
WESTGATE CENTER was situated on a 48.5-acre parcel, located 8.5 miles southwest of Cleveland's Public Square. The northern quarter of the site had been occupied by the Fairview Outdoor Theatre, a drive-in cinema, between 1947 and 1952.
A Stouffer's Restaurant became the first operational WESTGATE CENTER store on February 1, 1954. On the following day, a 3-level (140,000 square foot) Cleveland based Halle Brothers Company opened its doors. A 1-level (100,000 square foot), Dearborn, Michigan-based Federal department store was dedicated, along with the mall, on April 1, 1954. On hand for the grand opening were Anthoni Visconsi, B.L. Boykin and William Boykin. Henry W. Speeth (Cuyahoga County commissioner) snipped a ceremonial ribbon.
Encompassing approximately 511,000 leasable square feet, the open-air complex housed forty-four stores and services. These included Turney-Lee Hardware, Winkelman's ladies' wear, Gray Drug Eggelston-Morrell Records and two supermarkets; Kroger and Pick-N-Pay. The debut of the center's S.S. Kresge 5 & 10 was delayed by a blaze. A fire sale preview opening was held on March 20, 1954.
WESTGATE was joined by PARMATOWN CENTER {8 miles southeast, in Parma} in 1960, and GREAT NORTHERN MALL {4.5 miles southwest, in North Olmstead} in 1976.
Federal closed and set up shop in a new 1-level (65,000 square foot) store in August 1961. This was built, as a freestanding structure, in the northeast parking area of WESTGATE CENTER. Meanwhile, the original in-mall store had been leased by Cleveland-based Higbee's. They enlarged it -to 2 levels and 180,000 square feet- and opened for business on October 29, 1961. This was the Higbee's chain's first branch.
By 1968, a roofing renovation was underway. Upon completion of the remodeling, in August 1969, the name of the shopping hub was changed to WESTGATE MALL. The second Federal store was shuttered in 1969 and replaced by a Spartan-Atlantic discount mart. This store opened on August 23, 1970 and was in business for nearly 4 years. The vacant building was renovated by Higbee's, who opened a new Home Store in October 1974.
Meanwhile, Kroger had closed in 1970. Its vacant store was reconfigured as the General Cinema Corporation Westgate Mall Cinema City. This 4-screen venue showed first features on June 30, 1971. It closed as a new 6-plex was being dedicated. The General Cinema Corporation Westgate Mall 6 was built -as a freestanding structure- adjacent to the Higbee's Home Store. The new movie house was officially dedicated on June 3, 1986.
At this time, WESTGATE MALL was undergoing a major renovation. Entrances were rebuilt and the Promenade Food Court installed in part of the old 4-plex cinema space. These improvements were done by Cleveland's Richard E. Jacobs Group, who had acquired WESTGATE MALL in 1984.
Meanwhile, Halle's (which had closed for good in 1982) re-opened as a Pittsburgh-based Joseph Horne Company. In June 1992, there were reports that Horne's stores at GREAT LAKES MALL, SEVERANCE TOWN CENTER and WESTGATE MALL would re-open as "double-header" Higbee's locations. This never happened.
The WESTGATE Horne's closed on July 12, 1992 and re-opened, as a Dillard's Women's, in August. The former Higbee's at WESTGATE was rebranded by Dillard's and made into a Men's & Children's store. The outparcel Higbee's Home Store was also rebranded by Dillard's in August 1992.
The WESTGATE Horne's closed on July 12, 1992 and re-opened, as a Dillard's Women's, in August. The former Higbee's at WESTGATE was rebranded by Dillard's and made into a Men's & Children's store. The outparcel Higbee's Home Store was also rebranded by Dillard's in August 1992.
By the mid-1990s, the complex was showing its age. The proliferation of newer and larger shopping venues in the Cleveland suburbs was providing more competition than the 50-year-old shopping center could withstand. A 1-level (94,500 square foot), Wisconsin-based Kohls was dedicated in the summer of 1996. However, it failed to halt the mall's downward spiral.
By 2004, the end was near. The WESTGATE MALL Dillard's were struggling, with the Home Store being shuttered. The two department stores were consolidated into the larger Halle's / Horne's building (the north anchor). However, on March 31, 2005, Dillard's pulled out of the mall entirely. The multiplex cinema had been rebranded as an American Multi-Cinema venue in mid-2002. It was shuttered on January 26, 2006.
In February, the mall and cinema were demolished, leaving only the 9-year-old Kohl's, and a few peripheral structures, standing. Work soon got underway on a new, open-air power center, to be known as simply WESTGATE.
This 618,900 square foot complex was anchored by the existing Kohl's. A 1-level (126,800 square foot) Target opened on July 25, 2007. The third destination store, a 1-level (119,700 square foot) Lowe's, was dedicated in the following November. The new WESTGATE had been developed by a joint venture of the Cleveland-based Richard E. Jacobs Group, New York City-based New Excel Realty Trust and Chicago-based Transwestern Investment Company.
In February 2007, the New Excel Realty Trust was acquired by Australia's Centro Property Group. Centro's United States holdings were sold to New York City's Blackstone Real Estate Partners in June 2011. A new entity, the Brixmor Property Group, was created in September 2011. The WESTGATE complex was sold to Chicago's Inland Real Estate Corporation in March 2012. Kansas City, Missouri's R.H. Johnson Company bought the shopping center in July 2021.
By 2004, the end was near. The WESTGATE MALL Dillard's were struggling, with the Home Store being shuttered. The two department stores were consolidated into the larger Halle's / Horne's building (the north anchor). However, on March 31, 2005, Dillard's pulled out of the mall entirely. The multiplex cinema had been rebranded as an American Multi-Cinema venue in mid-2002. It was shuttered on January 26, 2006.
In February, the mall and cinema were demolished, leaving only the 9-year-old Kohl's, and a few peripheral structures, standing. Work soon got underway on a new, open-air power center, to be known as simply WESTGATE.
This 618,900 square foot complex was anchored by the existing Kohl's. A 1-level (126,800 square foot) Target opened on July 25, 2007. The third destination store, a 1-level (119,700 square foot) Lowe's, was dedicated in the following November. The new WESTGATE had been developed by a joint venture of the Cleveland-based Richard E. Jacobs Group, New York City-based New Excel Realty Trust and Chicago-based Transwestern Investment Company.
In February 2007, the New Excel Realty Trust was acquired by Australia's Centro Property Group. Centro's United States holdings were sold to New York City's Blackstone Real Estate Partners in June 2011. A new entity, the Brixmor Property Group, was created in September 2011. The WESTGATE complex was sold to Chicago's Inland Real Estate Corporation in March 2012. Kansas City, Missouri's R.H. Johnson Company bought the shopping center in July 2021.
Sources:
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
preservenet.cornell.edu/publications/Longstreth Branch Store.doc
http://cinematreasures.org
http://www.westgateohio.com
http://www.centro.com.au / Centro Properties Group
http://www.ulib.csuohio.edu / Cleveland State University / Michael Schwartz Library
https://www.crainscleveland.com
"Westgate Mall (Fairview Park)" article on Wikipedia
FAIR USE OF WESTGATE CENTER AND HIGBEE'S IMAGES:
The images from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cleveland State University Library and Cleveland Memory Project illustrate a key moment in the mall's history that is described in the article. The images are not replaceable with free-use or public-domain images. The use of the images does not limit the copyright owners' rights to distribute the images in any way. The images are being used for non-profit, informational purposes only and their use is not believed to detract from the original images in any way.
FAIR USE OF WESTGATE CENTER AND HIGBEE'S IMAGES:
The images from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cleveland State University Library and Cleveland Memory Project illustrate a key moment in the mall's history that is described in the article. The images are not replaceable with free-use or public-domain images. The use of the images does not limit the copyright owners' rights to distribute the images in any way. The images are being used for non-profit, informational purposes only and their use is not believed to detract from the original images in any way.
