Maine North High School

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Maine North High School is a closed high school in unincorporated Maine Township (mailing address: 9511 Harrison St., Des Plaines, Illinois) that was used in the 1980s as a filming location by motion picture director John Hughes.

1 As a school
2 Later uses
3 Today
4 References
5 External links

[edit] As a school

Maine North was part of the Maine Township High School District 207. It was opened in 1970, and its enrollment peaked at about 1,600 students during the 1975-1976 school year. The total enrollment was small compared to the other three Maine Township High Schools.

When originally constructed it lacked several more common facilities found in large urban high schools, including a swimming pool and auditorium. These were subsequently added, with their completion corresponding to the time of peak attendance. The school was later closed and abandoned in 1981. The closing of Maine North was controversial, considering that it was the most modern of the Maine Township schools. However, its lack of alumni also meant that it lacked critical support in the community to keep its doors open. The school was subsequently sold along with the District's administrative building, which had its offices relocated to Maine South High School.

[edit] Later uses

After its closing, Maine North was used extensively for location shooting of the movie The Breakfast Club in 1985.^[1] The school library scenes in the movie were actually filmed in the school gymnasium where the set for the film was constructed. The school was also used as a training facility for the Chicago Blitz of the short-lived United States Football League and as a mortuary college.^[2] In 1986, the school's interior was featured in another cult movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off.^[3]

[edit] Today

The Maine North High School building is now used as a district headquarters for the Illinois State Police, a communications center for the Cook County Sheriff's Department, an Illinois Lottery payment office, various regional offices for other Illinois state agencies, and a neighborhood youth center. The land near the school that was used for athletic fields has been redeveloped into townhomes.