A Visit to Westgate Mall (PA)
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- Опубліковано 7 жов 2024
- Westgate Mall in Bethlehem PA is one of the weirder specimens we visit in our travels. If I had to describe it, its like two vintage malls mashed together.
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Whoops. I was so busy for the trip this week I forgot to put this video in the scheduler.
It’s okay. Try your best. Sometimes people make mistakes too about the schedules.
The gloomy weather outside really adds a nice touch to the tour
I love the old section of the mall. It has character. Why can't they just leave things alone?
Wow, we finally got someone getting really close to my area. It's the Dead Mall King Doomie Grunt... great video, hopefully you can do Whitehall PA mall, Lehigh valley Mall and South mall in Allentown PA also.
Lehigh Valley Mall isn’t a dead mall. Still very vibrant and busy. But directly across the street is a small dead mall; the Whitehall Mall. The proximity is rather amusing.
Ironically for a period both Whitehall Mall and Lehigh Valley Mall had the same owner the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust they sold part ownership of the Lehigh Valley Mall and Management rights to Simon Malls and kinda of left the older single floor mall to rot as a discount store space for its newer neighbor until they gutted most of the Interior space leaving just part of the Leh's courtyard and the Plaza Theater / mall offices with community room staircase section intact complete with old anchor facades preserved the side of the Wolworths is still there. The rest is the wing built for S&W to accommodate there cover store.
7:55 I love how that loooks it reminds me of a town
Now that is one strange mall.... a totally weird layout that has grown organically, but my it’s empty ... how many businesses were actually open...I like the fake skylights but what was the point of the stone fencing in the newer part ? It didn’t seem to ‘contain’ anything or help with level changes..they seem like an unwelcome barrier...this mall is going to struggle going forward, it doesn’t have any anchors to bring in shoppers apart from the supermarket... there is a huge amount of dead space...it also seems quite a walk from the old to the new..and with very little info to tell you that another part exists..I suppose due to it being more a locals mall than a regional draw...
I grew up in Bethlehem and back in the 90's that mall was very busy for a smaller mall. I moved away around '97 and it just seems like they made the worst possible choices. They narrowed the walkways, got rid of the beautiful Bethlehem Steel Mural and the large empty space that served as both a main entrance and great spot for craft and baseball card shows. There used to be vendors up and down the center of the mall and Hess (later Bon-Ton) were massive draws, my mother worked at that Bon-Ton for several years. They had some decent food options and plethora of shopping...you could basically do a fair amount of your holiday shopping even with it's limited size and the inclusion of a food store and bank made it a perfect stop to take care of everyday business. This is a sad video for sure.
I liked the old section, reminds me of a mall, oh long since torn down, but one I remember near me in Southern New Jersey growing up. This was a mall with character, I agree it did have a bit of a split personality, but nonetheless a character and charm of its own.
Haven't been to the Westgate Mall in a long time. Wanted to see a video to see if it was as I remembered since I just read an article that they are tearing most of it down for a bank and starbucks. Thanks for the video!
I find this Mall very charming. A grocery store for an anchor. Who needs a food court when you can get it at a grocery store. I love it.
The McCrory's had a simple barstool restaurant during its heyday where you could order simple grilled sandwiches. There also were a few distinct restaurants including a J's Steak and Subs, and usually a take out Italian pizzeria.
Interesting mall. Thanks for filming.
That was a fun mall to look at. I love the split personality of this mall. My guess as to what’s at the top of the stairs are possibly the mall office and restrooms.
Hey Doomie, you definitely need to do a full tour of The Mall Of America and if possible for me personally as a musician, I'd love to see you do some videos of some Sam Ash and Guitar Center stores nationwide!!
Brings back memories
Westgate Mall isn't going anywhere because of the new Weis in the old Bon Ton space at the north end of the mall. I could see it being converted into a big box center, although it seems too close to the Airport Center. And it's not far from the 3 big box centers off Route 33. I'd like to see a Costco and a Trader Joe's though. Oh, and Westgate Pizza is very good. I've also heard the Chinese buffet is good too.
These corridor style oddity malls are so cool. I would drive past Bethlehem many times years ago. I wish I would have stopped.
I haven't been to Westgate Mall since Bon Ton was there. I do remember the old exit where Thrift Drug was and it was easy to use back then. Hawk Music is now where Radio Shack was for so many years. The glass enclosure facing the parking lot above Weis is where a vacuum repair business was I think across from them was a bank. Just up from Hawk Music was a wishing bridge complete with water. Hawk's old site was the glass enclosure with the oak door before that left turn weird hallwall. Dempsey's was a great place to eat. It was in Westgate's parking lot near the Catasauqua Rd light. There was offices upstairs and WZZO had their radio station up there for years before moving to Whitehall. 7-11 was next to a bar on the upper outside edge of the mall behind where Dempsey's was.
Finally, Westgate Pizza was always good pizza. I enjoyed it from the 70s, to 2000s. I haven't had it for a long time since Bon Ton closed and I have no real need to visit Westgate except for memories or pizza but then I really eat less pizza these days.
Great video!
Great vid as usual! Good work. One suggestion... any way to adjust your voiceover audio to not sound like your mic is in a box in a closet? Please don’t take this as a nasty comment, just trying to help.
This mall also at one time had a really good record store and an arts supply store. When Newberry's was there, it also had a lunch counter (like a Woolworth's). If you go to downtown Bethlehem you can go to where the Woolworth's was, and the Bethlehem Brew works used to be an Orr's (I think)
Where was the record store at
@@superrobloxriley8913 in the mall? It was on the side facing Schoenersville Road. About right in the middle. I was young when I went there, they ised to make my dad say it was ok fornme to buy certain things bc of the "Parental Advisory"
I love how when you went from one part of the mall to the other, you changed the music. Also I'm guessing the strange "strip-mall" part of the shopping center was actually the original part of the mall from the 1960s. I find it kind of ironic that they are reconverting that part back into a strip-mall like it was originally.
I feel like its rare to find a Zales now!
Could you do the Orchards Mall (Dead Mall) In Benton Harbor MI
And can you do the University Park Mall in Mishawalka IN (WARNING, SIMON PROP. ESTETICS IN THE UNIVERSITY PARK MALL!!!)
Fr the one at Manassas mall va gone
Up those steps were office spaces. Weight Watchers was at the top of the steps. At the top , right used to be a travel agent and Scott White Real Estate School. If you had continued past Weight Watchers, the hall turned right and down that hallway was a mail order computer store on the right and a day care on the left, that in previous years had been WZZO 95.1 radio station. Across from the daycare/WZZO was another hallway that lead to Suite 208, which was a fitness center in the 70's/80's, then a dance studio in the 90's and the last part of the 90's until June 2018, was my nail salon, Luminous Nails. My space had a big window that looked out over the parking lot. We could see everything from up there. If you look up now from the oarking lot, it is the only big window without vertical blinds as I took them when I left.
If you continued down the hallway were the mall offices and around another corner to the left was one last office that was vacant but had previously been a massage place called Quiet Waters. After that ...at the very end, were a mens and womens public restrooms with some vending machines...right before the restrooms is another staircase leading out the back parking lot. I practically lived up in those 2nd floor office suites for nearly 30 years of my life. I loved being in that mall.
Not sure which is worse: The Westgate in Bethlehem or the South Mall in Allentown.
Amen.
One part of the mall reminds me of Clearfield Mall (basically a strip mall with a corridor in front) and the other part feels like an 80's small mall. I'm surprised they're not demalling everything.
Great stuff!
Another really great video! I love the interior corridors, the brown brick and stone really nice but it does look it's age. It's good to see them survive on.
Wow Hawk Music is still there! Wasn't my first guitar, had a couple given to me as gifts but the very first one that I personally bought.
They are closed now. Their lease was not renewed. Phil Hawk retired. His protégé, bought the Hawk Music name and is reopening Hawk Music at the old Mac's Hobby Hall on Linden St. Near Liberty High School. It should be ready to re open next month.
Very odd layout but nice overall
That long hallway between the outside and inside is so empty, boring, depressing and unnecessary. Ouch. :(
I think that is being torn down.
It’s torn down now
If u went back to the Westgate “Mall” u would be very disappointed. The new owners de-malled more than half of it, and tore down another large portion and replaced it with a drive thru strip mall.
Hawk Music will close on 3/31/23 for the redevelopment. Sad.
And they are re opening on Linden St. Near Liberty High School in the old Mac's Hobby Hall. Should be open next month.
🥇
I'm so confused why there is two BonTon storefronts. I agree with you though, it has a certain charm and I love walking through malls and imagining what the old inline tenants were.
I live and work close to there and here is why: the one part was an actual Bon Ton store (the Weis has moved there now) and the other smaller one was a Bon Ton Furniture store.
It has Mall-tiple Personality Disorder... *rimshot*
Westgate Mall has been announced to close this year, and all the tenants were kicked out.
It’s not closing, it’s just renovations
@@superrobloxriley8913 Well I heard they are going to tear town the mall and then build a strip mall on the property.
@@RollerskateKyle that was just the one part that contained the Music Store, jewelry store, hair salon, subway and other stores
@@RollerskateKyle www.metrocommercial.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Bethlehem_-PA-Westgate-Mall-NEW.pdf this is the current plan for the mall
@@superrobloxriley8913 The other half has been De smaller already
Now I really want to know what's at the top of those steps though.
There are offices up there (or they used to be)
Koki: Allentown, Pennsylvania 4/16/17
Looks like a flea market mall. Too much junk in the aisles!
I'm taking a trip there I'm leaving my house right now
Have fun out there
It's changed even more
The mall looks more like a Flea market atmosphere to me with low class stores.
Ok
Music @4:45 onward, sounds like this. ua-cam.com/video/znKw3ygo_EE/v-deo.html