Beltway Plaza Mall facts for kids
Beltway Plaza Mall logo
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| Location | Greenbelt, Maryland, United States |
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| Coordinates | 38°59′57.8″N 76°54′29.3″W / 38.999389°N 76.908139°W |
| Opening date | October 17, 1963 |
| Developer | Sidney J. Brown and First National Realty |
| Management | Quantum Companies |
| No. of stores and services | 100 |
| Total retail floor area | 900,000 square feet (84,000 m2) |
| No. of floors | 2 (2nd floor is small) |
| Public transit access |  TheBus: 16 Metrobus: C2, G14, R12 RTA Central Maryland bus: 302 |
The Beltway Plaza is a large shopping mall located in Greenbelt, Maryland. It was built by Sidney J. Brown and First National Realty, opening on October 17, 1963. When it first opened, it had a huge S. Klein department store. This store was separated by a big parking lot from a strip shopping center.
The strip center included an A&P Supermarket, a barbershop, a movie theater, and a Drug Fair store. By 1972, a smaller indoor mall was added between the strip center and the S. Klein store. This new indoor area had a 6-screen movie theater, a steakhouse, an appliance store, an ice cream shop, and a catalog store.
A few years after S. Klein closed in 1975, the mall got a big makeover. The space where S. Klein used to be was divided into new spots for different stores. Small fountains were also added to make the mall look nicer. The renovations also included a new 8-screen cinema. A Giant supermarket was added to one part of the old shopping strip. The renovation also connected the original mall area to the supermarket, making it all one enclosed space.
Today, the mall has about 115 stores and restaurants. Some of the main stores, called anchors, include Giant supermarket, Burlington Coat Factory, Marshalls, JoAnn Fabrics, Target, Shoppers World, and TJ Maxx. Shoppers World and a former Big Lots store took over the space that used to be Value City until 2010. You have to go outside to get to the Target store from inside the mall, even though they share the same roof.
Mall History and Development
The idea for Beltway Plaza started a long time ago. On July 15, 1962, a newspaper showed a drawing of the planned S. Klein department store. This store was going to be about 320,000-square-foot (30,000 m2) in size. It was planned for the Beltway Plaza Regional Shopping Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
At that time, this two-story store with a basement was going to be the biggest department store in the Washington suburbs. It was expected to open by Easter the next year. The governor of Maryland, J. Millard Tawes, was there when the lease for the S. Klein store was signed. The lease was for 30 years, but the store only stayed for 13 years.
The S. Klein store officially opened on October 17, 1963. S. Klein stayed at Beltway Plaza until 1975. The company decided to close this store and another one in the Washington area.
