Morrie Reinhaus

WEISER – Morrie Reinhaus wasn’t satisfied with merely selling shoes. So he undertook to salvage the better part of a block of downtown Weiser.

The result, Washington Square, is Reinhaus’ pride and joy- and one of the most distinctive shopping malls in the Treasure Valley.

Modeled after San Francisco’s Ghirardelli Square, the Weiser mall boasts a relatively stable roster of tenants, including 15 shops, a restaurant and three offices. Nearly all the shops are mom-and-pop enterprises.

“We’ve kind of created a little village here,” Reinhaus said.

The mall sports a 1890s style of brickwork and wrought-iron trim, capitalizing on its buildings, most of which date from the early days of Weiser. A central courtyard and parking lot complete the project.

Reinhaus, 35, says the venture hasn’t exactly made a fortune for him or his Reinhaus Shoe Co., now in its third generation in Weiser. “It’s almost a labor of love for Weiser,” he said.

For all the brick and ironwork, the mall still faces the same problems as those of any other Weiser merchant. Said Reinhaus: It’s on the fringe of the valley, and many local residents pass it by to shop in Ontario (Ore.) or other larger towns.

“Weiser merchants have to work a little harder for business,” Reinhaus said.

Reinhaus, whose grandfather founded the shoe store in 1906, got the idea for the square during his stay in San Francisco in the late 1960s. “That gave me a lot of ideas for redoing old buildings,” he said.

“I love old buildings, and I did a little of that work down there. You go into the Cannery (a similar San Francisco mall) or Ghirardelli Square, you think, ‘Oh, we can do that.

He returned to Weiser in 1970 and three years ago he had ripped apart three structures on the block with the help of a contractor, installed new wiring and new plumbing and designed a new entrance. The two- story buildings facing State Street also were joined together.

“Because of the action that was going on, we slowly got tenants,” he said.

Once Reinhaus got the idea for a square with an architectural theme, the project seemed to take on a life of its own. He bought and reconditioned TWO more small buildings in the block, installed the wrought-iron gates and fences, sandblasted the exterior brick and repaved the sidewalks.

Reinhaus borrowed the name for the project from Weiser’s Washington Hotel which burned down in 1972. It once stood where the mall’s parking lot is located.

Reinhaus figures he’s put at least $700,000 worth of work into the project, which he said is 95 percent complete.

“We plan to build possibly two more buildings,” he said. “They’d be small ones, but consistent with the scheme, in red brick or cedar.” Reinhaus also hopes to convert an old Great Northern caboose, now sitting on tracks in the courtyard, into an office.

Since the block officially became Washington Square, Reinhaus said, “I think overall, there’s more enthusiasm here in downtown Weiser. It’s brought some life back to town.”

Whether the spirit catches on elsewhere downtown is another matter. “Washington Square pretty much stands by itself,” one local resident said. “Morrie undertook a very brave enterprise here. But few of the other merchants have done any renovation or building. Nobody’s hungry enough.”

A tree-planting project this year has helped brighten downtown, he said.

Reinhaus himself admits he may be a bit too ambitious. “It really is too big of a project for a town of this size, but I did it anyway.

From The Idaho Statesman – July 30, 1980 – Page 10