Opposition Grows To Plymouth Meeting Mall Redevelopment

PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA — Plans are progressing to transform the Plymouth Meeting Mall, a longstanding institution in Montgomery County that has been fraught with financial difficulties for years, into a town center.

But opposition is now growing from some in the community who fear a loss of culture and history, and there is significant skepticism over exactly what is going to replace it.

"I was shocked to learn that Preit is planning to sell Plymouth Meeting Mall to a developer who intends to demolish it," wrote local resident Dante Medori, who started a Change.org petition to stop the demolition. "This is not just any mall, it's a vibrant community hub with so much to offer."

The plans call for the mall to be renamed the Plymouth Meeting Town Center. The new facility will include both retail businesses and residential development, as was first reported in late November by the Philadelphia Business Journal.

It is not yet known just how much of the old mall is slated to be demolished, and what will happen to significant newer aspects like the Legoland Discovery Center. However, the mall's other anchoring tenants, including Boscov’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Dave and Buster’s, and Burlington, will all stay.

Medori said the existing mall itself serves as a unique community center which current plans would destroy.

"The proposed demolition is a drastic move with consequences that will affect every single one of us," he said. "Plymouth Meeting Mall isn't just a shopping destination, it's a place where memories are forged, and life's special moments are celebrated. Its unique charm and community spaces are irreplaceable."

Others have expressed similar anxieties over the monoculture and blandness wrought by similar "town center" projects elsewhere in suburban America.

"Town center," came one social media comment that had dozens of likes. "Let me guess - turning point / Panera / chipotle / five guys."

"Don't forget Orange Theory and a Starbucks," another replied.

"Tired of the 'town center' experience, all that means is that lots of condos are going to be built right in the same lot," another added. "Look at KOP look at Media. The town centers get cluttered, and it becomes less inviting."

Medori urged that if redevelopment must occur, it should make an effort to preserve the mall's "core structure," including the iconic fountain and carousel.

If the plans do move forward, the 2025 holiday season would be final one for the mall, which was built in 1966 by the Rouse Company. At the time, it was only the third mall in the entire Philadelphia region.

Analysts had long believed the future of the mall was murky due both to declining traditional brick and mortar shopping and to the proximity of the globally known and much larger King of Prussia Mall.

While Plymouth Meeting and its owners, Preit, attempted to reinvent itself over the past decade with a variety of new immersive experiences, the mall as a whole has become largely empty.

Plymouth Meeting would join Exton Mall as the latest long-standing shopping mall to be transformed into a similar style, mixed use town center.