Westgate Village Shopping Center

America’s roadside shopping centers remain a symbol of the country’s robust post-World War II economy, increasing reliance on the automobile, and expanding growth outside of downtown commercial districts. While Bozeman’s economy rebounded steadily, its population grew rapidly after 1945 as soldiers returned home, seeking education under the GI Bill, which included tuition grants for veterans. Enrollment at Montana State College (MSC, now Montana State University) exploded, spurring a building boom at MSC and in Bozeman’s once-rural areas. Recognizing the need for retail stores closer to campus, developer W. Bruce Mecklenburg hired MSC architecture professor Hugo Eck and contractor Howard Gower, in 1957, to build Bozeman’s first multi-unit retail shopping center. The design reflected popular Modernist commercial features, including a flat roof with a projecting covered walkway, full-height glass windows, unadorned brick walls, and a large parking lot. Its first tenants included L & H Café, Cresap’s Men’s Clothing, Hauseman’s Ski and College Shop, Village Casuals Women’s Wear, and Gallatin Drug. Mecklenburg and tenants staged a well-timed grand opening the weekend after Thanksgiving, where an estimated five-thousand people browsed the new center. Further reflecting Bozeman’s modern advancement, six-thousand people dedicated MSC’s enormous new fieldhouse, and students gave tours of Bozeman’s new Senior High School on North 11th Avenue that same weekend. Years later, tenants such as the Food Co-op, Bridger Mountain Sports, The Next Door Saloon, and Colombo’s Pizza left a strong imprint on the community. While many other shopping centers and the Gallatin Valley Mall (1980) followed, Westgate Village epitomizes Bozeman’s mid-twentieth-century collegiate and commercial expansion.

Location

Metadata