Whitehall Mall

Whitehall Mall is a shopping mall located in Whitehall, Pennsylvania.[1] It is anchored by Kohl's.[3][7] Whitehall Mall was one of the Lehigh Valley's first malls and is located across from the Lehigh Valley Mall.[2][4]

Whitehall Mall
Exterior of the mall in October 2019
LocationWhitehall, Pennsylvania[1]
Coordinates40.633264°N 75.486245°W / 40.633264; -75.486245
Opening dateSeptember 26, 1966 (1966-09-26)[2]
OwnerWashington Prime Group[3]
No. of anchor tenants2[3][4]
Total retail floor area603,475 square feet (56,064.7 m2)[5][lower-alpha 1]
Parking2,558 spaces[6]

History
Interior of the mall, October 2019

1966-1997

Land for the mall (19 acres (7.7 ha)) was purchased for $125,000 from a farmer and groundbreaking occurred in 1965.[2][8] Zollinger's opened before the mall on August 15, 1966, with the rest of the mall opening on September 26, 1966.[2] The mall had 52 stores including Sears, Weis Markets, Woolworth's, and Zollinger's.[2][9][10] Whitehall Mall expanded in 1973, and in 1978 Leh's opened, replacing the closed (bankrupt) Zollinger's.[2][11] Sears interior underwent a major overhaul in 1984.[12] The mall received a lowered tax assessment after settling with the county, township, and school district in 1985.[13][14]

In 1987, a suspicious fire started in the back of the mall that later caused a wall of the Leh's to be demolished.[15] Sears interior underwent another overhaul in 1994 that added 35,000 sq. ft. to the sales floor, and converted the former second floor offices to store space.[16] Several stores suffered damage due to a large roof leak in January 1990, with all stores reopening after a few days, and the roofs replacement planned for April.[17][18] Leh's closed in June 1996 due to bankruptcy, with Gallery Furniture taking over its former space in 1997.[19] Clover closed in 1996, with its replacement Kohl's opening in April 1997.[4][20]

1998–present

Whitehall Mall received a $15 million renovation in 1998, where it was almost totally demalled, except for a portion near Kohl's.[4][21][22] Retaining the traditional mall look was determined to not be cost effective.[8] Sears was expanded during this time.[4] Three additional buildings were added to the mall's grounds during the renovation.[22] Weis Markets closed during renovations that almost doubled its space.[9] Plaza Theater closed in June 1999 due to having only two screens and being obsolete.[23] The theater was previously operated by Budco, and by AMC from 1987-1996.[24] The opening of Gold's Gym in the mid 2000s was delayed due to design changes. Gold's Gym would use the former Leh's store and Plaza Theater.[23][25] Raymour & Flanigan relocated to the mall in 2012, occupying two vacant storefronts.[26][27] PREIT sold its 50% ownership of the Whitehall Mall in 2014 to Washington Prime Group, the mall's other owner.[3][28] Sears closed in February 2020.[29]

Notes
  1. Information varies, but all numbers are above 590,000 sq ft.

References
  1. "Washington Prime Group Whitehall Mall". Washington Prime Group. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  2. Whelan, Frank (February 1, 1998). "Remembering When Whitehall Mall Was Cool". The Morning Call. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  3. Petty, Precious (December 29, 2014). "PREIT sells Whitehall Mall share to Washington Prime Group". LehighValleyLive. The Express-Times. Advance Local Media. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  4. Todd, Susan (October 31, 1997). "Whitehall Mall To Be Given $10 Million Makeover In '98". The Morning Call. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  5. Harris, Jon (October 12, 2018). "With Sears bankruptcy looming, Whitehall Mall gets ready for life without once-popular retailer". The Morning Call. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  6. "Washington Prime Group Whitehall Mall 2014" (PDF). Washington Prime. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  7. Harris, Jon (November 7, 2019). "Sears plans to close Whitehall Mall store, the last one in the Lehigh Valley". The Morning Call. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  8. Todd, Susan (January 18, 1998). "'Power' Mall Is New Trend In Whitehall". The Morning Call. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  9. Todd, Susan (October 13, 1998). "Weis Store In Whitehall Mall To Be Closed During Renovations". The Morning Call. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  10. Fox, Martha Capwell (September 15, 2004). Whitehall and Coplay. Pennsylvania: Arcadia Pub. p. 121. ISBN 9780738536279. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  11. Moylan, Tom (June 11, 1986). "Zollinger Bankruptcy Nears The End". The Morning Call. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  12. "Whitehall Mall Sears Begins Remodeling Job". The Morning Call. April 26, 1984. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  13. Duckett, Jodi (August 13, 1985). "WHITEHALL MALL GETS TAX BREAK IN SETTLEMENT TO GET $200,000 IN REFUNDS". The Morning Call. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  14. Duckett, Jodi (August 30, 1985). "SCHOOL DISTRICT MUST REFUND TAX TO WHITEHALL MALL". The Morning Call. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  15. "Suspicious' Fire Damages Areas Of Whitehall Mall Police". The Morning Call. April 17, 1987. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  16. Wittman, Bob (August 7, 1994). "Young And The Restless Sears' Hoopla Unveils Whitehall Remodeling". The Morning Call. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  17. Snyder, Susan (January 1, 1990). "Whitehall Mall Springs Roof Leak 6 Stores Shut". The Morning Call. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  18. "Roof Fixed - Whitehall Mall Stores Reopen". The Morning Call. January 3, 1990. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  19. Shope, Dan (January 28, 1997). "Gallery Furniture Leases Anchor Store In Whitehall Mall". The Morning Call. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  20. Kupper, Thomas (October 12, 1996). "Kohl's Department Store Will Open In Whitehall Mall In April". The Morning Call. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  21. Noah, Peter (January 13, 1998). "Commissioners Approve Redesign Of Whitehall Mall". The Morning Call. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  22. Noah, Peter (April 16, 1998). "Phase I Of Renovations Of Whitehall Mall Begins At Its Southeast Entrance". The Morning Call. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  23. Blumenau, Kurt; Jackson, Kirk (October 17, 2003). "Former Leh's store may be converted to Gold's Gym". The Morning Call. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  24. Elwell, Gay (February 21, 1996). "Plaza 2 Theater In Whitehall Mall To Close, Amc Reveals". The Morning Call. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  25. Beldon, Kirk (December 1, 2004). "Lehigh Valley's newest Gold's Gym now set for spring 2005". The Morning Call. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  26. "Legend Properties, Inc. brokers 43,328 s/f deal". Mid Atlantic Real Estate Journal: 9B. November 25, 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  27. Petty, Precious (January 5, 2012). "Raymour & Flanigan opening new store in Whitehall Township". LehighValleyLive. The Express-Times. Advance Local Media. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  28. Glose, Jennifer (December 2, 2014). "PREIT sells interest in Whitehall Mall". Lehigh Valley Business. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  29. Snyder, Irene (February 16, 2020). "Shoppers reflect on decades of deals as Sears closes last Lehigh Valley store". WFMZ. Retrieved 21 February 2020.

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