Logan Valley Mall Explained

Logan Valley Mall
Location:Altoona, Pennsylvania, United States
Coordinates:40.4677°N -78.4115°W
Address:5580 Goods Lane
Opening Date:1965
Developer:Crown Construction
Owner:Namdar Realty Group
Architect:Hunter, Campbell & Rea (now Hayes Large)
Number Of Stores:50+[1]
Number Of Anchors:3 (2 open, 1 vacant)
Floor Area:778385square feet[2]
Parking:Garages and Lots
Publictransit: AMTRAN bus: 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12
ATA bus: Clearfield to Altoona Shopping
CamTran+ bus: 36
Floors:1-2 (1 in former Sears)

The Logan Valley Mall is a regional shopping mall that is located in Altoona, Pennsylvania, United States. It is currently anchored by JCPenney and Macy's and features more than 50 stores and services on two levels.

History

20th century

The Logan Valley Mall opened in November 1965 as an open-air shopping center with Sears,[3] Weis Markets and a few small shops.[4] JCPenney was built in 1966,[5] and the mall was enclosed for a grand opening on June 8, 1967.[6] In May 1976, a four-screen movie theater opened in the mall.[7] In 1979, another expansion was completed by Crown American with the construction of Hess's department store.[8] By the mid-1990's, the mall had offered more than one hundred stores and services.

During the early morning hours of December 16, 1994, a fire of unknown origin broke out in the G.C. Murphy store and quickly spread through most of the original section of the mall, which did not have fire sprinklers. Fifteen stores and nine kiosks were destroyed and dozens more were damaged.[9]

A three-phase plan was immediately laid out to reconstruct the mall. The first phase, beginning in 1995, started with a new store, Kaufmann's, which was added to the far end of the mall to replace the then-vacant Hess's. The already-built, undamaged, two-story portion of the mall was renovated to include changeovers, such as the re-branding of Wall To Wall Sound & Video to The Wall and temporary relocation of restaurants such as Wong's Wok. Another phase one project was the construction of a new, two-story section to replace the portion damaged by the fire. This was completed in May 1996.[10] Phase two consisted of opening a new three-story parking garage and a new eight-screen Carmike Cinema. Phase three was completed in 1997 and included the opening of a new larger JCPenney store closer to Sears and a new food court on the renovated second floor of the old Penney's store.

21st century

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) acquired the mall in 2003 as part of its merger with Crown American. The May Department Stores Company, which owned Kaufmann's, was sold to Federated Department Stores in 2005. Federated proceeded to convert various May properties to Macy's, including the Logan Valley Mall store. In 2017, the Carmike Cinema was re-branded AMC Classic following AMC's acquisition of the Carmike chain. Also in 2017, the mall was sold to Mason Asset Management and Namdar Realty Group.[11]

On December 28, 2018, it was announced that the mall's Sears store would be closing as part of a plan to close eighty stores nationwide.[12] The store closed on March 3, 2019.

On July 7, 2021, it was announced that the AMC CLASSIC Logan Valley 8 had closed permanently, which was attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Logan Valley Mall ::: Directory. March 10, 2021.
  2. Web site: Logan Valley Mall Fact Sheet. PREIT. May 2, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20120315143134/http://preit.com/download/leasing/detail/factsheet/34.pdf. March 15, 2012. dead.
  3. News: Photo: As New Sears Roebuck Store Opened . Altoona Mirror . November 3, 1965 . 27.
  4. News: Photo: Record Number of Groundbreakers at Sears . Altoona Mirror . April 29, 1965 . 40.
  5. News: Penney's Joins Mall . Altoona Mirror . January 7, 1966 . 10.
  6. News: Grand Opening . Altoona Mirror . June 7, 1967 . 25.
  7. Web site: Cinemas IV . Cinema Treasures . 28 February 2023.
  8. News: AD . Altoona Mirror . September 12, 1979 . 24.
  9. Web site: Logan Valley Mall Fire Altoona, Pennsylvania . Federal Emergency Management Agency and United States Fire Administration . 28 February 2023.
  10. Web site: Logan Valley Mall Fire . HMdb . HMdb . 28 February 2023.
  11. News: New York companies buy Logan Valley Mall. Altoona Mirror. September 9, 2017.
  12. News: Sears is closing 80 more stores in March, faces possible liquidation. Thomas. Lauren. 2018-12-28. CNBC. 2018-12-28.
  13. Web site: AMC Theatres permanently closes Altoona location. 7 July 2021.