To fans of George Romero’s 1978 zombie movie “Dawn of the Dead,” Monroeville Mall is more than just a shopping center on its last legs.

It’s a piece of history.

Romero filmed parts of “Dawn of the Dead” at Monroeville Mall. As avid fans will notice, some elements of the mall’s architecture still match up to the 47-year-old film.

Fans flock to the mall every year for its Living Dead Weekend — a convention that pays homage to Romero’s zombie films.

But this year’s Living Dead festivities — held Friday through Sunday — took on a new meaning, as the mall is expected to be closed and demolished in the coming years.

Quincey Reese | TribLive T-shirts available for purchase in the Living Dead Museum in Monroeville Mall.  

‘We’ll be the last ones there’

After purchasing the mall in February, Walmart declared this month its intent to demolish the 186-acre property.

The mall will be replaced with retail and public space, according to a state grant application the big box giant submitted in September through limited liability corporation South Saturn Ridge.

Mall tenants told TribLive that mall management instructed them to move out of the building by April 2027.

Kevin Kriess — owner of the Time & Space Toys store in the mall — manages the Living Dead Museum dedicated to the 1978 film. He opened the museum in 2008 and moved it to Evans City in 2013. It came back to the mall around 2018.

Kriess plans to maintain the museum’s location in the mall as long as possible.

“We’ll be the last ones there,” he said. “We will stay until the very last day in some form or capacity.”

Though Walmart plans to rebuild on the Monroeville property, Kriess isn’t sure the new development will live up to the original movie set as a home for the museum.

“The mall itself is the biggest attraction to the museum,” he said, “so I’m not sure it makes sense to be in some completely different building that just happens to be in the same place that the mall used to be.”

Quincey Reese | TribLive The control room featured in George Romero’s 1978 film “Dawn of the Dead” is shown in Monroeville Mall.  

Mall plays role in film, fans say

“Dawn of the Dead” fan Tom McMenamin likened demolishing the mall to “tearing down a temple or a kingdom.”

McMenamin drove about 11 hours from his home in New Hampshire for Living Dead Weekend, making a return visit after his first in 2021. He suggested moving the museum to Evans City, where part of Romero’s first zombie movie, “Night of the Living Dead” (1968), was filmed.

“I think a lot of us are just trying to take it in as much as we can while we still can,” said McMenamin, 37. “As far as where (the museum) is going to go and continuing conventions going forward … the ‘Living Dead’ fans are just so dedicated. They’re not going to care where it is or where they have it. They’ll be there.”

Jason Olson considers the mall an integral piece of the film.

“The mall location itself is just as much of a character as everything else that’s going on,” said Olson, 49, of Rochester, N.Y.

“I’m not afraid or scared that any of this stuff is going away, because it’s not,” he said. “There’s more than enough interest.”

‘It’s not even going to be worth coming to visit’

But Olson’s girlfriend, Emily Caulkins, is doubtful a new museum location would offer the same experience as the mall.

“It’s not even going to be worth coming to visit,” said Caulkins, 39, also of Rochester. “If they tear (the mall) down and try to build a new type of mall, I think every ‘Dawn of the Dead’ fan should boycott it, because this is ridiculous.

“This should be made into a landmark.”

Scranton resident Frank Glendenning said the mall’s demolition would be heartbreaking for fans.

“I understand that with time, there comes progress,” said Glendenning, 30, “but I also don’t believe in tearing down your history and getting rid of some things that have been here for as long as most people have been alive around here.”

Regardless of what becomes of the mall, Kriess assures “Dawn of the Dead” fans that the museum and Living Dead convention will continue.

“We never intended it to end,” he said. “It was always meant to expand and grow, and now we have this road bump of how to get past where we base things.

“The props and the memories and the history that we’re putting together, we want to go on and on.”

Quincey Reese | TribLive A car with a zombie windshield cover and fake blood painted on the hood is parked outside of Monroeville Mall during the mall’s Living Dead Weekend.  

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