Dixie square mall harvey il

Montgomery Ward, J.

Dixie Square Mall has quite a history, despite standing in ruin for more than double the number of years it was in operation. Located in Harvey, Illinois, it stood vacant for over 30 years before finally being torn down in May of Here is the story of the Dixie Square Mall. The mall had a grand opening in November with 50 stores committed to the facilities. In a woman was fatally shot near the mall in a robbery attempt.

Dixie square mall harvey il

Numerous articles — and reprints of old articles —remind this boomer of that fact, and they got me to thinking. Always dangerous, I know. What, after all this time, has become of the site of the old Dixie Square Mall in Harvey, used and abused so memorably in the film? The region grew up around an industrial base, declined with it and has been riven by racial tension. The south suburbs always seem last in line for any regional priority. A few years ago, in a striking bit of symbolism, its Metra trains were the last to get bathrooms. The towns labor under property taxes that discourage commercial growth, adding to the burden for low-income residents. There also are the hidden taxes of crime and corruption. Harvey has been a capital of both and a problem child for regional groups dedicated to economic improvement. An example is the old Dixie Square Mall, which closed in and was used for the movie a year later. The one-time store galleria then stood vacant for years, a spectacular and perilous ruin. Crimes occurred there, scavengers took everything they could, and aficionados of dead malls documented the wreckage.

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The monument to '70's commercial decrepitude, which after more than 20 years of abandonment, had evolved into a labyrinthian museum of decay, is, at the very moment of this writing, being bulldozed into piles, to make way for a new development. The mall is was located in Harvey, Illinois, a suburb south of Chicago. The rambling , square foot building housed over 60 stores, including the great retail anchors of the time, Sears and Montogomery Ward. The swan song came a year later when the Blues Brothers, tearing through the margins of Chicago in the longest and most destructive cinematic car chase ever, careened through the mall, on their journey to Daly Plaza, at the center of the Chicago, like suburban marauders, making amends with the urban core. Demolition started in March. The developer will be building a new shopping mall on the site, and has already secured some of the new retail anchors for these times: Old Navy, Barnes and Noble, and Bed, Bath and Beyond.

The developer is not to be found and has not paid contractors. Illegal removal of asbestos has Atty General looking into developer. Dept of Public Health and Il. EPA have issues with work completed by developer. I did a final inspection of the mall and work has started and the old Montgomery Wards has started to be demolished, so a dead mall is soon to be gone for good. This mall was prominently featured in the feature film "The Blues Brothers". The mall was already closed for a year when producers rented it out, renovated the interior display, and drove cop cars through it. Travis Bell from www. The video is available on the site. Excellent editing by Travis inter-cuts his footage with scenes from the actual movie that provide for an entertaining short to watch.

Dixie square mall harvey il

Numerous articles — and reprints of old articles —remind this boomer of that fact, and they got me to thinking. Always dangerous, I know. What, after all this time, has become of the site of the old Dixie Square Mall in Harvey, used and abused so memorably in the film? The region grew up around an industrial base, declined with it and has been riven by racial tension. The south suburbs always seem last in line for any regional priority. A few years ago, in a striking bit of symbolism, its Metra trains were the last to get bathrooms. The towns labor under property taxes that discourage commercial growth, adding to the burden for low-income residents. There also are the hidden taxes of crime and corruption. Harvey has been a capital of both and a problem child for regional groups dedicated to economic improvement.

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Drawer Panel by Brian Ulrich. Sometimes Interesting. Tools Tools. The swan song came a year later when the Blues Brothers, tearing through the margins of Chicago in the longest and most destructive cinematic car chase ever, careened through the mall, on their journey to Daly Plaza, at the center of the Chicago, like suburban marauders, making amends with the urban core. Contact Privacy Policy Sitemap. Tags dixiesquaremall. A young woman was killed in a botched robbery near the mall in November Daily Southtown. Archived from the original on Sun-Times Media. Dixie Square Mall has been abandoned for 30 years. As a result, fires, deterioration, and illegal demolitions have continued to ravage the building, which is replete with litter, old ceiling tiles, and full-grown trees. CBS 2 Chicago.

Thousands of people and numerous businesses have left the city over the years, and the void left in their wake is plain to see. In that setting, the city felt full.

Every accessible pane of glass in the mall was soon broken. Vandals broke in, looting the building for salvageable metals and leaving paths of destruction in the process. After closure, the mall was used for a scene in the film The Blues Brothers and then left abandoned. By Sun-Times Wire [month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]. That might not have been a good thing, but the city elected a reform-talking mayor, Christopher Clark, last year, and there are signs of a turnaround. Despite numerous attempts to board up and secure the mall, it was forced open repeatedly. While many other dead malls were redeveloped or demolished, Dixie Square became notable for its extensive neglect, vandalism damage, and history. It gave control of the project to the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, because handing the money to Harvey would have been like lighting a match to it. The homeless, vandals, and urban explorers would also continue to break in every possible entrance. Montgomery Ward, J. Shopping malls in Illinois. However, by the early s, crime was increasing in Harvey, a poverty-stricken and blighted suburb 20 miles 32 km south of Chicago , [10] and several significant criminal incidents occurred at or near the mall, including three murders in one year alone. The filmed scene involved a car chase, in which cars were driven through walls, windows, doors, and store displays and into the mall corridors.