Dixie Square Mall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling. You can assist by editing it now. A how-to guide is available. (December 2007) |
| Dixie Square Mall | |
 Front cover of mall directory |
|
| Facts and statistics | |
|---|---|
| Location | Harvey, Illinois |
| Opening date | 1966 |
| Closing date | 1978 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 3 |
| No. of floors | 1 |
Dixie Square Mall was an enclosed shopping mall located in Harvey, Illinois, United States. It was abandoned for nearly thirty years, more than twice as long as it was in business. It is famous for having been used, both inside and out, for the mall chase scene in the movie The Blues Brothers. More recently, it achieved notoriety because of a growing Internet cult following (including local urban exploration groups) dedicated to covering the mall's deteriorating condition. Like other "dead malls", it had been characterized by high vacancy rates and low patronage, which led to its closure. However, while other dead malls were redeveloped or demolished, Dixie Square has stood out due to its extensive neglect, vandalism damage, and history.
Ever since the mall closed, various abortive plans have been made to demolish or redevelop the structure, although none of these plans has ever come to fruition. The first plan to demolish the mall came about in the late 1970s, though the filming of The Blues Brothers prevented this demolition. The mall has been left to decay ever since, due in no small part to a lack of funds (the blighted[1] town of Harvey owned the property itself for the greater part of the last 25 years), political incompetence, general mismanagement and apathy.[2][3][4]
Contents |
[edit] History: 1965-1990s
Constructed between 1965 and 1966 at the cost of $25 million, Dixie Square opened in August 1966 on the site of a former golf course. It had sixty-four shops at its peak, including JCPenney, Woolworth, and Montgomery Ward as its anchor stores. Other major tenants included a Walgreen's drug store and a Jewel, the latter of which did not open into the mall. Montgomery Ward was the first store to open, doing so in late summer 1965. The JCPenney and Wards stores were considered cutting edge at the time, complete with psychedelic wallpaper and fixtures.
The mall enjoyed four years of success, until around the time the Turn Style discount department store was added in 1970. At this point, crime began to plague the town of Harvey, a failing, poverty-stricken suburb 20 miles (32 km) south of Chicago. Many of the stores, including the anchors, renovated their stores several times in the 1970s in an attempt to keep up with the times. The ailing mall itself went through a renovation in 1976. From 1973 to 1976, Dixie lost many stores, hardest hit by the Montgomery Ward anchor moving out in late 1977. By 1978, it was down to its last twenty stores, with JCPenney finally leaving in late January. The mall closed in November 1978. Walgreen's and Jewel, which were both accessible from outside of the mall, stayed open for another year, departing in 1979.
On January 25, 1979, a full year after closing, JCPenney briefly reopened and held a sale they called "Dixie's Last Gasp," in which they liquidated outdated merchandise, mannequins, and display cases.
[edit] The Blues Brothers
In 1979, shortly after the last store (Jewel) vacated, director John Landis rented the vacant mall for eight weeks to film a scene in the movie The Blues Brothers. Police cars were driven through the mall, destroying parts of it. Some former tenants, including Hickory Farms and Walgreens, refused to let their storefronts appear in the film so these were either "dressed up" as other stores (the Walgreens became a Toys "R" Us and the interior of JCPenney became the interior of Jewel, although the exteriors of the real Jewel and JCPenney stores were retained), or not featured at all. In the film, main characters Elwood and Jake Blues drive through store fronts, display cases and walls and destroy much of the mall while being chased by Illinois State Troopers. Much of the mall interior was left in poor condition after filming wrapped. The fake wall that the cars crashed through in Toys "R" Us at the beginning of the scene was still there until the mid 1980s.[5]
[edit] After filming
Following the movie shoot the mall was boarded up once again. In 1984 vandals broke in, damaging and looting the mall, and leaving a number of entrances wide open in the process. By the next year, any piece of metal worth salvaging had been stolen. Over time, weather, lack of maintenance and harsh Chicago winters also took their toll on the building.
The shuttered mall gained a reputation as a notorious crime magnet during the early 1990s, with at least one murder and rape taking place there, not to mention abundant gang and drug activity. By this time there were full-grown trees in the parking lot and portions of the roof had collapsed.
[edit] Current condition and future
In the early 1990s, the Harvey Police Department moved their headquarters from 15320 Broadway Avenue near downtown Harvey to the southwest corner of the mall parking lot. A juvenile court was built on the far west end of the parking lot. Despite numerous attempts to board up and secure the mall, it has been forced open repeatedly. Vandalism is the primary cause, but many homeless people have also turned the former mall site into makeshift living quarters. There has been much debate on what to do with the site.
In the 1990s, a massive fire broke out inside the Woolworth's store and nearly destroyed the building. The fire caused the roof to cave in, and due to that and other cave ins, entire saplings are now growing inside the building. In the 90s, another fire broke out in the City Life lounge, causing minor damage to the abandoned bar. Throughout the '90s and 2000s, several other small fires broke out at the mall.
In January 2005, an agreement was made with American Kitchen Delights to turn the former Montgomery Ward building into a showroom for American Kitchen's products, with the YMCA then using another portion of the property to build senior citizen housing. Just days after the agreement was made, work on the Montgomery Ward store began. All debris was removed from the floors, which included 25 years of fallen ceiling tiles that had deteriorated and turned to a thick mush. Then came the removal of the store's remaining original decor and signage.[6]
On April 14, 2005, a plan was set in motion to demolish the remnants of Dixie Square (except for the Wards building which was ostensibly being renovated) and bring top "big-box" retailers to the former mall site, including Costco, Kohl's, and Old Navy. This plan forecasted bringing more than 1,000 jobs to Harvey, which has one of the highest unemployment rates in Cook County.[7]
Soon it was found that the mall contained asbestos. The removed debris was covered in plastic and the Wards renovation and mall demolition was halted in late June 2005. It was also discovered that the demolition and renovation company had acted without a permit.[6][8]
On July 3, 2005 the site renovation project was put on hold until the asbestos issue could be dealt with.[8]
On Christmas Eve 2005, during demolition of Dixie Square Mall's central energy plant (which was being done late at night and illegally, as the asbestos problem had not been resolved), a large portion of the Wards building was accidentally demolished as well, ending any chance of its renovation. The mayor of Harvey actually witnessed this personally and stopped the crew from doing any more damage, when he coincidentally happened to drive past the site.[9]
On February 16, 2006 the entire mall property was sold to developer John Deneen of the Emerald Property Group. The remainder of the Wards building was torn down March 1 in a widely publicized stunt, but no progress has been made to demolish the rest of the mall since that time. After the news crews left, so did the demolition companies, and no further work was done.[10]
In late 2006, the Toys 'R' Us sign was removed. The sign could be seen in the Blues Brothers as cars crashed through the building.
[edit] Chronology
[edit] 1960s
- October 12, 1964 - 58 acres of land comprising the Dixie-Hi Golf Course are annexed into the corporate limits of Harvey, Illinois, following an act of Harvey's city council.
- November 11, 1964 - Walgreens leases space at Dixie Square Mall.
- Early 1965 - Ground is broken for the Montgomery Ward store, with developer Meyer C. Weiner and Montgomery Wards District Mgr. Richard Daley in attendance.
- Late summer 1965 - Montgomery Ward opens its doors.
- Late 1965 - JCPenney opens its doors.
- April 1966 - The mall first opens to the public, though it is still under construction.
- September-October 1966 - Construction on the mall is completed.
- November 9, 1966 - The mall is dedicated by the mayor of Harvey.
- November 10, 11, and 12, 1966 - The mall's grand opening.
- 1967 - It is first announced that Turn Style, the mall's third anchor store, will be added.
- February 2, 1967 - The United States Postal Service opens a branch at Dixie Square.
- 1969 - Construction on Turn Style begins, enlarging the mall by more than 100,000 square feet (10,000 m²).
[edit] 1970s
- 1970 - Turn Style opens to the public.
- 1973/1974 - City Life, a large disco/nightclub, opens at the mall.
- May 5, 1974 - Flagpole sitter Richard Blandy falls to his death at the mall.
- 1976 - The mall undergoes a minor renovation, adding green turf carpeting, canvas awnings, and a new triangular framework main sign near JCPenney.
- November/December 1977 - Montgomery Ward closes.
- Early 1978 - Turn Style closes after parent company Jewel/Osco sells the chain to May Department Stores and May decides to close the Dixie Square location (and only the Dixie Square location).
- January 25, 1978 - JCPenney closes and relocates to Orland Square Mall.
- November 1978 - Dixie Square Mall closes after twelve years of operation.
- January 25, 1979 - JCPenney re-opens briefly to hold a sale called "Dixie's Last Gasp", in which older merchandise and store fixtures are sold off.
- 1979 - The mall is donated to Harvey-Dixmoor School District 147, on the condition that the school district assume the mall's debt, consisting of roughly $800,000 in back taxes and mortgage payments. The school district uses the mall as a temporary school until 1981. The former Turn Style location is converted into a gymnasium.
- Spring 1979 - Jewel and Walgreens, the last two stores at the mall, close their doors.
- July 23, 1979 - The mall is leased to Universal Pictures to be used in John Landis's 1980 movie The Blues Brothers. The mall is refurbished and used as a movie set for the film.
[edit] 1980s
- December 17, 1981 - The school district files a lawsuit against Universal in federal court, seeking $87,000 in damages due to Universal's failure to "return the mall to its original condition after filming".
- 1984-1985 - Teenage vandals break into the mall and severely damage the interior, stealing anything of value in the process. Up until this time, the mall had been boarded up, untouched since production of The Blues Brothers ended five years earlier. Jack Barton, employed by the city of Harvey to maintain the mall, looks after it during this time and cleans out garbage dumped there by residents, as well as occasionally providing tours to developers.
- 1985 - The mall's canvas awnings and main sign, both added in the 1976 renovation, are removed. The mall's canvas roofing (which covered a central atrium portion containing a guest services desk) is also removed at this time, allowing water, snow and other debris to enter the mall, causing further mold, decay and plant growth inside.
[edit] 1990s
- July 1993 - Raymond Eaves rapes and murders Denise Shelby in the former JCPenney store. Just 3 months prior, Eaves had been arrested and charged for raping another woman in Harvey and before that, had lured a mentally disabled girl to Dixie Square where she was then raped as well. During his 1997 trial, prosecutors described the ordeal and recounted how it took Eaves 4 minutes to strangle Shelby to death. 39 year old Raymond Eaves was sentenced to life in prison on October 17, 1997.
[edit] 2000s
- November 10, 2002 - An announcement is made that the former JCPenney building will be leased to house the offices for five state agencies, and that the remainder of the mall will be demolished. This plan never comes to fruition.
- August 2004 - Special land use permits are issued by the Harvey City Council, allowing the YMCA to build housing for senior citizens on part of the property.
- January 2005 - American Kitchen Delights purchases the former Montgomery Ward building and begins gutting it, removing all original decor and fixtures, which had been untouched since the store's closing. The debris is pushed out into the mall and through the store's exterior entrances.
- May 2005 - Security fencing is erected around the mall. By July, most of the fence has been destroyed by vandals.
- June 23, 2005 - It is found that the debris from Montgomery Ward contains asbestos. The renovation is halted and the debris is covered in plastic.
- December 24, 2005 - A large portion of the former Montgomery Ward building is "accidentally" demolished.
- February 16, 2006 - The mall is sold to an area developer who intends to construct a retail center.[11]
- February 26, 2006 - A fence is again built around the mall, 24-hour 7-days-a-week security is employed, and a demolition crew moves in.
- March 1, 2006 - As part of a publicity stunt including a speech by the mayor, what remains of the former Montgomery Ward building is demolished. As a result, the media mistakenly believes the mall has been completely razed.[2]
- May 2006 - The security and demolition crews leave the mall, even though they were not supposed to leave until August 21. A discussion with several of the security and demolition men reveals that the mall's owner ran out of funds to pay them.
- June 5, 2006 - Although it is heavily publicized, the demolition ends up not happening, and the crew leaves the mall. They promise to have the mall down by the August deadline, though evidence supports that this is highly unlikely.
- August 27, 2006 - A week after the demolition crew is supposed to wrap up demolition and leave the site, the mall is still standing (except for the Wards section and the energy plant).
- April 4, 2007 - Developer John Deenen, who bought the mall in 2006 for $500,000, is arrested and held on $350,000 bail for gun charges related to the harassment of a contractor.[12] No work has occurred on the mall site since the staged "demolition" in 2006.
[edit] References
- ^ United States Environmental Protection Agency. "National Brownfields Assessment Pilot." (PDF) [1]
- ^ a b Dixie Square Mall History (1961- Present)
- ^ ABC News Report, June 7, 2006 [2]
- ^ NBC News Report. "Mall Used In 'Blues Brothers' To Be Torn Down." February 28, 2006 [3]
- ^ Dixie Square Mall History Dixie Square History
- ^ a b Ziemba, Stanley. "Harvey mall work prompts asbestos suit." Chicago Tribune Jun 29, 2005
- ^ Illinois Criminal Justice Authority. "Governor announces $15,000 for Harvey police cadet program." (State Government press release, May 17, 2005) [4]
- ^ a b Ziemba, Stanley. "State targets Harvey mall asbestos work" Chicago Tribune Dec 21, 2005
- ^ Ziemba, Stanley. "Work on mall in Harvey sparks a suit over asbestos." Chicago Tribune Jul 2, 2005
- ^ Noel, Josh. "Threats alleged in mall tiff." Chicago Tribune Apr 2, 2007
- ^ Ziemba, Stanley. "Wrecker's ball brings new hope to old mall." Chicago Tribune Mar 1, 2006
- ^ Nolan, Mike. "Back to square one at Dixie?" Daily Southtown April 4, 2007 [5]
[edit] External links
- Barraclou.com: Dixie Square Mall
- Deadmalls.com: Dixie Square Mall
- Exploring Dixie Square Mall
- Labelscar: Dixie Square Mall
- Paw Filmworks: Dixie Square History
- Google Satellite Imagery of Dixie Square Mall pre-demolition
- Pics taken by urban explorers
|
|||||||||||
