Highlands Mall is the name of a former shopping mall in Harrison Township, Pennsylvania that operates today as an open-air shopping center. It opened in 1977 and closed in 2006, reopening after its redevelopment in 2008.HistoryBeginningsHighlands Mall came to fruition after Crown American had decided to expand its shopping center along Freeport Road in the Harrison Township village of Natrona Heights. The center, which opened in 1972, up to that point, had housed only two tenants, which were actually one and the same. Johnstown-based Gee Bee Department Stores, operated a discount department store in one half of the building, and a grocery store in the other half. Because this location was one of the regional chain's more profitable stores, the concept of the mall came in tandem with a proposed expansion of Gee Bee.It should also be noted that for this time period, there was no indoor shopping mall serving the Alle-Kiski Valley region. The closest malls up to this point in time were the Butler Mall in Butler, Pennsylvania; Monroeville Mall in Monroeville, Pennsylvania; Greengate Mall in Greensburg, Pennsylvania; Northway Mall in Ross Township; and Eastland Mall in North Versailles.Gee Bee served as the mall's anchor tenant, with the mall being constructed on the north end of the shopping center, which housed the department store half of Gee Bee. The mall opened in the fall of 1977 with the following tenants: a new Gee Bee furniture store, Pearle Vision, First Federal of Pittsburgh, J&S Pizza, General Nutrition Center, National Record Mart, Waldenbooks, and Hallmark. The mall also featured a game room with coin-operated video games and pinball machines, pay toilets, a courtyard wishing well fountain, and a snack stand featuring hot pretzels.
