Montgomery Ward - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

Business Will Se Located At South Boulevard Plaza

Montgomery Ward Co. officials announced Tuesday that their downtown Crawfordsville Store will  be the first to move into the new shopping center at the south edge of the city. The downtown store will be closed and an ultr-modern "all season" structure will be built in the South Boulevard Plaza Shopping Center, according to Donald Walter, manage of the local store and William Harbeck of Chicago, Ward's real estate manager and a 1947 graduate of Wabash College.

Relaying an announcement by R.P. Bygel of Chicago, vice president of Ward's North Central Region, the officials said the one-level store is scheduled for opening in late 1966. They announced the plans at a luncheon at the Legion Home, which is located only a block from the proposed structure.

Another Ward's official, JP Riley of Richmond, who is zone general manager for the company, was also present for the occasion.  Local persons at the luncheon included Mayor Will H. Hays Jr. and city councilmen, representatives from Wabash College the local banks and news media personnel.

One person, James Sexton went to the luncheon in a dual capacity.  He is a city councilman as well as appliance manager at Ward's.  Also present for the announcement was Melvin Simon of Indianapolis. He is the land developer for the new building.

Mr. Harbeck said the "All-seaon," air-conditioned mall  is a new concept for a city the size of Crawfordsville and for this section of Indiana. He said customers will enjoy walking inside the store and doing all their shopping without having to go outside until they are finished.

Once inside the store, customers will find a spacious, structure which includes a coffee shop, customer credit and service center, home delivery and a catalog order department offering more than 130,000 different merchandise items among its special services, Harbeck said.

The store will carry the full line of Montgomery Ward merchandise, including major appliances, fashions for the entire family, sporting goods, home furnishings, a garden shop, office supplies, cosmetics, jewelry and a candy section.  

"The newest conception in store fixtures and display equipment will join with a beautiful decor and attractive lighting to make this store a show place of merchandising," Harbeck said.  "The latest techniques in store layout will be used to make shopping easy and convenient."

The real estate manager said the store will have 47,242 square feet of floor space with an additional 1,100 square feet for outdoor and seasonal sales. The shopping center will be built on a 29-acre tract of land and will provide paved parking for about 1500 cars he said.

Harbeck said the entire center will have 207,000 square feet of building area. He said that in addition to Ward's the center will include another large store as well as several smaller fashion and service stores and will feature an enclosed air-conditional mall.

"We have had a wonderful relationship with the people of Crawfordsville since we opened our first store," said Harbeck.   "We feel confident that when our new store opens that relationship will continue to grow."  By moving, he sauid, "We have no intention of injuring the business community of downtown Crawfordsville."  He said Ward's was faced with an expansion problem and could not expand downtown.  

Ward's opened its present downtown retail store in 1934.  Construction had begun in 1933 after the historic fire of that year destroyed many of the Main Street buildings.,  Prior to that year, but only for a short time, Ward's had temporary quarters on Washington Street, the store manager recalled.

Upon completion of the new structure along South Boulevard the downtown building  will be closed, he said., The store is now located at 127 E. Main St.  The company's tire and battery store is located at 212 N. Washington St. And the service store and warehouse is at 218 N. Green St.  A former warehouse, which was located on Pike Street behind the present retail store, burned down in a 1952 fire.