You know what’s really scary? Going out of business! This month we’re taking a very pointed walk through the Liberty Plaza while gently reminiscing about some of the businesses that were once there and touching on current residents, because who doesn’t love a good nostalgia story?
First, a brief history. The plaza itself spans nearly four city blocks between West 38th and 34th streets, and was originally planned out as an L-shaped building with a walkway bisecting the northwest corner, according to an Erie Times-News article from 1952 when the plans were unveiled to the public. The plaza cost a whopping (for the time) $2.25 million to build, officially opening in October 1955 as the sparkling “Liberty Shopcenter.”
The plaza served as Erie’s largest shopping center and included such fine retailers as: Adeline Shoppe, Brown-Jones, Grants, Liberty Hardware, Miles Shoes, Nu-Way Markets, Quaker State Finance, Trask’s, Woolworth’s, and Zehe’s Bakery – a really nice mix of stores that would honestly be a perfect fit in its modern-day iteration. Later stores included Peggy’s Restaurant, Crazy Mazeez, Carlisle’s, Blockbuster, D&K, and PNC Bank to name a few. We all rode our bikes to D&K for gum, right? Philip J. Levin, original owner and developer of the plaza, had the right mindset saying, “What better city is there, if handled right!” Say it louder, Phil! Cheers to you!…