In his eighth and final year as mayor of Monroeville, Nick Gresock is optimistic about the changes in store for the community’s retail corridor.
Gresock discussed some of the recent developments at March’s Monroeville Rotary meeting, held at the community library.
Community members praised Gresock for helping to save the Monroeville Convention Center, which was to be closed and leased by arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby.
In February 2024, Hobby Lobby and Oxford Development mutually agreed to terminate their lease agreement after Gresock, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis and a number of state legislators and Allegheny County officials met with Oxford to discuss the financial implication of closing the convention center.
“Over 400,000 people come here annually to visit the convention center. It has a huge economic impact,” Gresock said.
The municipality ended up purchasing the 100,000 square foot space from Oxford Development for $5 million. The convention center will be run by the nonprofit Visit Monroeville, which will hire a third party to clean the building and do routine maintenance.
A number of citizens asked about the retail giant Walmart’s recent purchase of Monroeville Mall. Gresock was quick to say he was in favor of the move.
“I’m extremely optimistic about this,” Gresock said. “No matter what you think about Walmart, we can all agree that they have a lot of money and a lot of capital.”
CBL Properties of Chattanooga, Tenn., sold the mall to Walmart in January for $34 million. The national real estate and development firm Cypress Equities will manage the redevelopment of the mall and is in the process of hiring designers.
Because of zoning changes in recent years, there are plenty of possibilities for the 186-acre space, Gresock said.
“We’re trying to unwind things right now,” the mayor said. “They are telling us that nothing is off the table.”
Food for thought
An additional special guest, Mission BBQ catering manager Cassie Saunders, was selected by Rotarian Tim Little.
Saunders brought some Texas- inspired favorites, including chicken barbecue, cornbread, macaroni and cheese and green beans from the restaurant at 3975 William Penn Highway.
Bill Kraus and Steve Newton opened Mission BBQ’s first location Sept. 11, 2011, as a way to support first responders, police officers, firefighters and the military.
Since opening its doors, the American barbecue chain restaurant has donated more than $20 million to charitable organizations such as Wreaths Across America, Honor Flight Network, Racing Across America and Navy Seal Foundation.
“Our mission is to care for our tribe members,” Saunders said. “It’s almost like a second home for them.”
Monroeville’s Mission BBQ recently donated more than $3,000 to the local volunteer fire department, Little said.
“There is no social media on the things we do for the community,” Saunders said. “There’s no advertising because we want positive word of mouth to be the focus.”
Monroeville Rotary regularly hosts the evening meetings with special guests on the first Thursday of each month.
“We want to identify and feature those that are giving back,” Rotary President Diane Milowicki said.