Eastland Mall was a two-level, enclosed shopping mall located at 833 East Pittsburgh-McKeesport Blvd in North Versailles, Pennsylvania, situated on 57acre of land at the peak of a hill overlooking the Monongahela River. The mall was home to such stores as Gimbels, J.C. Penney, F.W. Woolworth Company, and Gee Bee Department Stores. The mall annex also included a two screen movie theater and auto repair center.OpeningThe Gimbels department store chain began construction on Eastland Mall in 1961. After approximately two years of construction and $12 million of construction costs, Eastland Shopping Plaza opened on August 15, 1963. In addition to a 200000sqft Gimbels, some of the nation's largest stores, J.C. Penney, National Record Mart, May-Stern, Kinney Shoes, Thom McAn, and F.W. Woolworth Company moved into the mall.When Eastland Shopping Plaza opened, downtown McKeesport suffered as J.C. Penney moved from McKeesport into Eastland Shopping Plaza. Three other McKeesport retailers, Immel's, Wander Sales, and Richard's Shoes, opened stores in Eastland. At its peak in the 1960s, Eastland Shopping Plaza employed 800 people.DeclineThe upper level of Eastland was originally an open-air marketplace. After a fire destroyed much of the property and caused $1 million worth of damage on June 6, 1973, a roof was added and the entire mall was enclosed. At this time the "Shopping Plaza" in Eastland's name was changed to "Mall" and a Gee Bee discount store was opened.
