And Now, The End is Near

Eastland Mall has taken a turn for the worse. In fact, it's died.

Not just the flea market, but now everyone --- even Tony the Shoemaker --- is being given the cruel shoe by Benderson Development, according to Saturday's Daily News (the story isn't online). Jeremy Boren also had a story in Sunday's Tribune-Review.

In brief, Eastland's remaining tenants have until Feb. 28 to beat it, or else they'll have it beaten for them, though to be frank, I'm not sure what leverage Benderson has. ("Oh no! You're going to kick me out of Eastland Mall!")

Tony is moving to Great Valley Shopping Center up on Route 30. There's no word where the other remaining tenants --- most notably, the PennDOT driver's license center, District Justice Robert Barner, a beauty parlor, and Beer World --- are going to end up. (You've got your real circle of life there --- the driver's license center, the beauty parlor, the beer distributor and the magistrate's office.)

I'm taking bets when the demolition equipment rolls in (my guess is mid-April) though personally, I'd say one good shove ought to bring the whole thing down. They couldn't burn it down, because it's too waterlogged. I just hope the people up in Crestas are prepared, because if that joint is as vermin-infested as I think it is, the number of pests fleeing that place when it's demolished are going to be truly mindboggling.

I wonder if Benderson would rent the whole shooting match out for one last fling. I was thinking it might be fun to restage the Dixie Square Mall scene from "The Blues Brothers" there.

Alert Reader Tom from Belle Vernon liked my Eastland Mall song:

Very good one ... however you should have included the burnt cheese smell as you entered the east side entrance. I still think of the mall every time my toasted cheese sandwich goes up in smoke.

I had forgotten about the burnt cheese odor. On the other hand, if I had included every smell from Eastland Mall in that song, it would have gone on for another 40 stanzas. Entire epic poems could be written about the odors in that place, if only it wasn't so hard to find a rhyme for "mildew."

In a slightly related matter, Thursday's Almanac --- in which I discussed people who buy an eighth of a pound of lunchmeat --- prompted this recollection from Tom:

I remember back in the early '70s buying lunchmeat at the old Farmer's Pride near the Memorial Theater. There was a crusty old timer there arguing with the lady about the lack of meat on the chicken necks that she was getting for him ... they were 10 cents a pound. The whole store busted out laughing after hearing his rant.

Can we agree that the old guy was ahead of his time? He needed a blog.

In other business, remember a few months ago when Alert Reader Ed wrote in to say that he had found tape of a Mon Valley band called The Oncomers, and I put him in touch with Bill Scully Jr., drummer for The Hi-Frequencies?

No? Well, just trust me on this, OK? Sheesh.

Bill sends along this update:

I just want to thank you again for getting me in touch with Ed Kearney. I visited Ed at his home a few weeks ago, and he let me hear the Oncomers live recording from the Cove Club. Ed's Sony reel-to-reel captured about 2 sets' worth of material that night (including a few R&B hits of the day mixed in with their vocal and instrumental songs). Elements of surf, country/honky tonk, doo-wop, and dance/R&B are all apparent. Most bands today would never dream of covering such a wide mix of music, but dance hall and bar bands in those days were expected to cover the gamut of popular music.

Some of the music is a bit sloppy and out of tune, and even the tightest songs have an off-the-cuff quality to them that is lacking from a lot of bands. This is a very charming recording, a great document.? I wish that more tapes like this would turn up (I know you're out there somewhere!). This tape captures highlights from just another 9 pm to 1 am night at this bar in pre-assassination/pre-Beatles Pittsburgh. I really dig the recording for all of these reasons.

Bill has put Ed in touch with another member of the Oncomers, and they're planning to meet.

I guess the only additional question we can ask is, are there any plans to make excerpts of this tape available to the public? Stay tuned.