For decades the Glosser Building served as home to Glosser Brothers, a major department store for the Greater Johnstown Region. In the downtown, the Glosser Building is centrally located at the intersection of Franklin and Locust Streets. It has an aesthetically pleasing view of Central Park and is in close proximity to a variety of services. But in the late 1980’s, when it could no longer compete with the suburban shopping malls, the store was closed and the building was abandoned.

The Johnstown Redevelopment Authority, in anticipation that the building would be reused, purchased the adjacent parking lots to the Glosser Building. The availability of parking would make the redevelopment and reuse of the Glosser Building much more amenable. This proved to be the case when the building was eventually transferred to the Cambria County Commissioners, who made a decision to renovate the building to create a multi-use site. The Authority was able to provide the parking lots to the County for use with the new office/educational/government facility they created in the renovated Glosser Building. Today the Glosser building houses several commercial retailers, a restaurant, a branch of Cambria County Community College, and Government offices.

In 1999, a $3.5 million Social Security headquarters and service center was built on Washington Street, representing a victory for community and business leaders in the battle to keep Social Security operations in downtown Johnstown. A new $3.5 million Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare building was also constructed on upper Main Street, keynoting the drive to redevelop the area adjoining Main Street East, an earlier Redevelopment Authority project. These two projects helped to retain 150 jobs in the City, as well as create nearly 40 new jobs. Both sites are owned by private developers, keeping the new buildings in taxation.

Please visit www.discoverjohnstown.org for current downtown revitalization effort updates.