KYW Flashback: Gallery At Market East Opens

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --  Over the years there had been many plans for reviving that stretch of wasteland on Market Street between City Hall and the historic district. But they never got off the drawing table until a Baltimore developer with a lot of attitude and a vision came to town.

Willard Rouse was determined to bring shoppers back to Center City from their flight to suburban malls. There were already landmark department stores in place. All he had to do was connect them with a major transportation hub, that would also funnel shoppers from city neighborhoods into one bright urban mall.

In 1977, KYW Newsradio was reporting the opening of the Gallery at Market East. The complex would go through ups and downs, but the concept remains a part of the cityscape, even as another transformation has begun.