In today’s adventure, we’re exploring the Harrisburg Mall just days before it’s scheduled to close it’s doors for good. Originally known as the Harrisburg East Mall, the Harrisburg Mall opened in 1969, making it one of the oldest mall’s we’ve explored on this channel to date.
Starting in the late 70’s after only a decade or so in business, the mall began what seemed like a never ending revolving door of anchor stores. Just one example of this is the fate of the original Gimbels department store location. Gimbels opened with the mall in 1969 then became Hess’s in ‘78, which became Hecht’s in ‘94 and then finally Macy’s in 2006 before ultimately closing for good in early 2020. All 3 anchor store locations saw varying degrees of turnover like this over the years.
In addition to the revolving door of anchor stores, the mall also went through a $77 million revitalization in 2004, which included the addition of the Great Escape movie theater. However, financial difficulties halted further renovations.
In it’s final years, mall ownership changes ultimately lead to a redevelopment plan that included demolishing the current building in exchange for a total a re-imagining of the location as a mixed-use space with retail, business, and medical facilities. This plan was formally announced in December of 2023 with the mall being slated to close at the end of January 24 after 54 years of operation. As we saw in the intro, demolition of the space has begun, marking an end to a long time Harrisburg area staple. Let’s check out how the mall was in it’s final days before closing.
00:00 Intro
01:38 Start Exploring
10:34 Empty Food Court
11:14 More Exploring
14:28 Back at the Food Court
15:19 90's McDonald's PlayPlace
15:53 Outro