Demise of area’s first mall stirs memories
When I was a kid there was always something happening at Greengate Mall, especially during holidays. Someone would perform. The mall would be packed, as people would jam the corridors and line up along the railing on the second floor overlooking the ‘stage’ on the first floor. Once I recall, during an Easter show, some kid was so enthralled that he stuck his head through the orange railing to get a better look. After the show was over, he discovered his head wouldn’t pull out as easily as it went in. He began screaming and wailing so loud that his cries could be heard throughout the mall. The firemen had to cut him out.
Years later I was at a party where people were standing around talking about the stupid things they did as kids. This one man said he had gotten his head stuck in the railing at Greengate Mall. I was there that day.
I was there, if not the day it opened, at least the first week. What a sight Greengate Mall was. The first mall in the greater Pittsburgh area. Two huge floors of store after store, all under a roof so you needn’t worry about rain or snow. There was a fountain at one end where you could pitch pennies and make a wish. It was quite a sight.
And now it’s coming down. News accounts this week reported St.-Louis based THF Realty intends to purchase the shuttered mall, demolish it and build a strip shopping center in its place.
Funny how that little bit of news can stir up so many memories long forgotten.
I remember holding my older brother’s hand as we walked through Hornes and gazing up at these headless and legless mannequins on display wearing men’s underwear. I told my brother that boys sure are lucky as they have pockets in their underwear.
He replied not for the first or the last time: “Shut up, Luanne.”
One of our favorite places was the pet store where we gazed at the puppies. There was one I really wanted that cost $8. My dad said I could have it if I saved the money. It took me months to earn $8. By that time the puppy was long gone. Though he would never admit it, I’m sure my dad knew that would happen.
Years later I did buy my first dog of questionable lineage at that store. Shultz looked like a little white rat but grew into something the size of a husky. He served our family well.
Greengate was more than a place to buy things. It was a social and cultural center and every year I had a chance to perform first with my Brownie and later Girl Scout troops. The only year this wasn’t fun was when I had to dress as a little Dutch boy with felt suspenders. I really wanted to be a girl so I held back tears that threatened to roll down my cheeks.
In high school it was a place to hang out and check out boys. By then though word was spreading about plans to build a new, even bigger mall just a little farther along Route 30. Westmoreland Mall spelled the end for Greengate.
Sure it struggled along for another 20 years or so while Westmoreland expanded and later other shopping centers crammed along the highway competed for space and customers.
Toward the end, not much was left of Greengate but a couple stores and Ladbrokes off-track betting parlor, where my father would amuse himself while my mother shopped. The rest of the mall was used for exhibitions, including gun shows. My mother still wonders why when she went to meet my father at Ladbrokes she was barred from entering while eating a chocolate-covered strawberry but those who had just purchased and were carrying guns were welcomed inside.
Eventually even Ladbrokes and the gun shows pulled out. By then Greengate appeared nothing more than a worn-out relic.
But it had its day. And what a day it was. Which is more than today’s strip malls and big box stores will ever claim.
Luanne Traud is the Herald-Standard’s editorial page editor. E-mail: ltraud@heraldstandard.com.