Most of the mall sits in total blackness, and the few beams of light that pour through the roof show spots that are yellowed, moldy, warped, and graffitied. In February 2010, it was reported that Chicago-based developer MG Development South LLC was planning to demolish the remains of the mall and replace it with a mixture of big-box stores and other retail on the site. It's posts like this one that make me really sad to think about the areas I lived in when I was a kid. In all, fans of Dixie Square unfortunately missed a good chance with this one. Reserve the next gen Samsung deviceAll you need to do is sign up with your email and boom: credit for your preorder on a new Samsung device. In 1976 a desperate attempt at luring shoppers to Dixie Square was undertaken. In spite of this early success, the city of Harvey began experiencing economic decline in the 1970s, which in turn depressed the business at the Mall. I actually tend to get along better with women than men. Each image is a work in and of itself capturing a mood through composition, color and texture. Dixie Square Mall was an enclosed shopping mall at the junction of 151st Street and the Dixie Highway in the Chicago suburb of Harvey, Illinois, United States. (PDF), NBC News Report. Final demolition began in February 2012 and was completed in May of that year. Amazon has encountered an error. [8][10], In mid-1979, director John Landis rented the vacant mall for eight weeks to film a scene in the movie The Blues Brothers. Despite such a recent and high-profile use, the mall wasnt able to shake its dark reputation. By the beginning of the 1970s, the town of Harvey's crime rate rose at extreme heights. The city district attempted to sue Universal Pictures for the destruction, but financial considerations forced the district to eventually evacuate the property altogether and terminate legal proceedings. Dixie Square competed directly with Park Forest Plaza to the south, River Oaks to the east, and the newly-enclosed Evergreen Plaza to the north upon opening. Flickr photos, groups, and tags related to the "dixiesquaremall" Flickr tag. After at least one murder was committed in there, multiple arsons, roof collapses, one botched revitalization project after another, thousands of photographs, and an "accidental" demolition of one of the anchor stores that was to be purchased and used as a warehouse: it was finally demolished late last year, only-possible through the use of Hurricane Ike disaster relief funding business as usual in Illinois. But Paul Mcvay, who is filming a documentary on the mall, said a lack of store variety or even a movie theater might have doomed it from the start. The fact that the developer later opened a competing mall in a nearby suburb also didnt help its chances, said Mcvay, 32, of Coal City. Is there any lovely and vigorous square or block in USA which has been an ugly area? The mall was torn down in 2012 using $4 million in disaster relief funds given to the state of Illinois after Hurricane Ike, to be replaced by stand-alone shopping retail stores and restaurants. Some intel on the Blues Brothers mall: it was the former Dixie Square Shopping Center in Harvey, IL; a south-suburb of Chicago. Another plan announced in 1997 also came to nothing. It was finally torn down in 2012. Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club thats right for you for free. On October 21, 1965, Montgomery Ward was the first of the mall's stores to open. In the early 1990s, a juvenile court was constructed on the far west end of the parking lot. They actually left it just the way it was, but that's only the start of the Dixie Square Mall's decline. Gang and drug activities frequently took place inside the building. And in April, the city council voted to transfer title for the property to Chicago developer John Deneen. In November 1972, a young woman was fatally shot near the mall in a botched robbery attempt. Then in 1973 another person was shot on the mall property, and a teenage girl was strangled to death. Gov. The remainder of the Montgomery Ward building was torn down March 1 in a widely publicized PR campaign, but no progress was made to demolish the rest of the mall afterwards. Fredericksburg: 1320 Carl D Silver Parkway Suite 100 (buybuy BABY) Gainesville: 8135 Stonewall Shops Square. cover photo courtesy Brian Ulrich * Pride of Harvey. [11] These efforts failed, as by 1978, it was down to its final twenty stores. Dixie Square Mall was an enclosed shopping mall located in Harvey, Illinois, United States, at the junction of 151st Street and the Dixie Highway. When robberies and murders became an unfortunately too common occurrence, Dixie Square finally shuttered in 1979. Crime picked up in Harvey around the mid 1970's, and that's when things got bad for Dixie Square Mall. [8] In 1993, a woman was raped and fatally strangled inside the former JCPenney store. Timing, of course, couldn't be better for John Landis, and in August he set up shop in the vacant mall and "dressed it up" to appear fully-functional and open. Who said they were desperate to keep their masculinity intact? The project is a part of a larger . [7][8], However, by the early 1970s, crime was increasing in Harvey, a poverty-stricken and blighted suburb 20 miles (32km) south of Chicago,[9] and several significant criminal incidents occurred at or near the mall, including three murders in one year alone. It opened in 1966 and closed as a mall in 1979. According to Jalopnik, the memorable moment took place in Harvey, Illinoiss Dixie Square Mall. Throughout the madcap chase, deadpan stars Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi calmly point out stores like Disco Pants and Haircuts and an unrecognizable Pier One Imports. The Dixie Square Mall was built on an old golf course off of the Dixie Highway in Harvey, Illinois (Pleasant Family Shopping). As of 2020, Harvey was preparing the site to offer to developers and officials were putting the site forward as a good location for a cold storage warehouse. [8][10], After the mall's abandonment, it experienced extensive neglect and damage from vandalism, [15][16] the full-time caretaker hired by Harvey to maintain the property was physically unable to repair it. In the mid 2000s, a massive fire broke out inside the Woolworth store and nearly destroyed the building. Its per capita income in 1999 was just $12,336. See more ideas about mall, dixie, dead malls. Residents wish the shopping center could have attracted such loyalty when it was in operation. Advertisement. The mall was designed as a tribute to Ancient Greek culture, as its name suggests. 29+ Haunting Pictures of Abandoned Malls From Around the World Universal | LAST UPDATE 04/19/2022 By Hayden Katz In the 1970s, there was a mall building boom. "Mall Used In 'Blues Brothers' To Be Torn Down." There is an implicit gender valence to the meme. Walgreens finally left by the spring of 1979 and by the summer the last store, Jewel Supermarket, vacated. Construction for Dixie Square Mall began in late 1964. Of course, that was just Hollywood magic, and once the crew left (the mall in a disastrous state that was never repaired, despite a lawsuit that was ultimately tossed): the mall was briefly used as a school, then left to rot from 1981 onward. They also discovered that the demolition company had been working without a permit. When it held its Grand Opening in November of 1966, it was one of the first enclosed malls in the Chicago area. Here is a short video with a few images that show exact before and after views!Dixie was opened on August 31st 1966 and was very popular until the late 70`s.. Each image is a work in and of itself capturing a mood through composition, color and texture. . The Dixie Square Mall opened in 1966, anchored by a Woolworth, a J.C. Penney, a Montgomery Ward, a Jewel store that only opened to the outside, and later a Turn Style discount store. Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2008. Although the Mall begins as a success, it soon turns into an unsafe place, particularly for women. Dixie Square Mall was an enclosed shopping mall at the junction of 151st Street and the Dixie Highway in the Chicago suburb of Harvey, Illinois, United States.Opened in 1966, the mall featured Montgomery Ward, JCPenney, Woolworth, Walgreens, and Jewel as its major stores, with discount store Turn Style joining in 1970. I purchased this book being a fan of the history Dixie Square and Harvey Ill. Let's see if the poster admits it! Wow your conclusions stunningly miss the entire point of this article. In 1973, a man was robbed and shot to death in the Mall parking lot. Honestly, it just seemed like it was cursed from the beginning. Dixie Square Mall, one of the first of many more to come in . Unemployment is 9.4 percent, almost twice the states 5.7 percent average. Coles worker fights a woman allegedly trying to steal groceries, Jax the Staffy is rescued after being stuck in a cave for two days, Rapidly growing cemetery filled with Vladimir Putin's 'prisoner army', Locals desperately smash windows of overturned double-decker bus. Visitors would enter through towering white Greek columns, intentionally designed to look dilapidated like their real counterparts. The Mall's last tenets closed in 1979, and in . The following errors occurred with your submission. Now, a painted Toys R Us sign a business that wasnt even in the mall when it was open is the only remaining complete sign. Pat Quinn announces on Thursday a $4 million federal grant to assist with the demolition of Dixie Square Mall, which has sat idle for more than 30 years. The threat of asbestos drove the cost of demolition up and pushed the time horizons for demolition further away. ${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}. The Dixie Square Mall in Harvey, Illinois, was open from 1966 to 1978. When I read through this website, all I can think is this person is trying to convince everyone the sky is falling, when its not really falling. Yes, there are lots of nasty guys who do lots of nasty things to women. The Bluesmobile rolled through the Dixie Mall in Harvey during the filming of "The Blues Brothers." (Video image) The canvas covering the JCPenney court area was removed as well, allowing rain and snow to enter into the building. Car-chase mall from Blues Brothers now a wreck, but it was all fake then, and its been gone for years, The Blues Brothers 40th anniversary read all Sun-Times coverage of the best movie ever made in Chicago, The Blues Brothers Wauconda beach to reopen after 30 years, Harvey looks to finish what Jake and Elwood started, Newly vacant lot, once site of Rays Music Exchange mural, serves as powerful backdrop for state reps TED Talk, Netflix looks to curb password sharing, considers ads, Johnny Depp denies hitting Amber Heard: Nothing of the kind ever happened, Shining Girls team needed Chicagos look and amazing talent to tell the story, Liz Sheridan, played Jerrys mom on Seinfeld, dies at 93, Charlie Rose reemerges with first interview since firings, Former Windy City Rehab star Donovan Eckhardts defamation suit is dismissed, Bears must leave grotesque Soldier Field behind, get fresh start in Arlington Heights, Rare double-striped steelhead caught on the Chicago lakefront, Dear Abby: Im avoiding events where my childs abuser will be, Dear Abby: My popular husband seldom has time for me, The Son: Tone-deaf follow-up to The Father has none of its originality, Chicago Food Stop, other pop-ups give downtown a jolt of neighborhood vibrancy, Seth Jones late heroics lift Blackhawks past Sabres in overtime, Cubs claim right-hander Julian Merryweather, DFA Manuel Rodrguez. of stores and services: 64 (in 1968) 20 (in 1978) No. Shortly after the final store vacated the mall, director John Landis used the mall in the summer of 1979 to film The Blues Brothers. This mall was made famous when it was used in the Blues Brothers movie in 1979. Since it's closing in 1979, Dixie Square has become something else: a crumbling eyesore and a haven for crime and gang activity. After years of false starts and decades of dilapidation, the Dixie Square Mall in Harvey is finally coming down. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. Since then, it has fared worse than possibly any other ghost mall. [8], Various redevelopment plans were announced in 1985 and 1989, but went nowhere. I can't believe a governor finds it a valuable use of his time to attend a demolition. But due to several well-publicized crime incidents*, it closed in 1978 after only 12 years, even after a third anchor (a huge discount store! ), ABANDONED SHOPPING MALL WAYNE HILLS MALL- WAYNE NJ. As Susan Brownmiller (1975) has argued, the threat of sexual violence is a means of asserting male dominance and extending patriarchal power, and therefore it seems this history, as told by this meme, is a reassertion of this power. With those two exceptions, the Mall has remained abandoned, and the building has been left unsecured. And I dont know any of us who have an issue with people of the female gender participating our only concern are the risks of going into a place like that alone because of the potential of someone bumping into the wrong person, and getting hurt. [10] From 1973 to 1978, Dixie lost many stores, including the Montgomery Ward anchor, which closed on October 4, 1976 and Turn Style which closed in January 1978. If that wasnt enough, a man was electrocuted and fatally caught fire attempting to steal copper wiring inside, among others. That's the stunt director asking about Miss Piggy. Your email address will not be published. That same year, a 13-year-old girl was lured from the Mall by three other adolescent girls, who led her to a nearby abandoned apartment. After several weeks of asbestos abatement, which was completed by early February,[30] crews began to demolish the mall on Wednesday, February 15. The Dixie Square Mall in Harvey, Illinois, was open from 1966 to 1978. Man nabbed 3 months after returning to scene of Porter County crime, police say; [8][14], The Harvey-Dixmoor School District attempted to sue Universal Pictures in December 1981 for $87,000, citing their failure to repair damage to mall property created during the movie shoot. Parsippany: 3189 Route 46 Morris Hills S/C (Harmon Face Value) Rockaway: 327 Mount Hope Ave. Suite 1003 (buybuy BABY) and 399 Route . Four years later, a young woman was shot and killed in her car while in route to the Mall, and she was only a few blocks away when she was shot. When was Dixie Professor of. Car-chase mall from 'Blues Brothers' now a wreck, but it was all fake then, and it's been gone for years Some of the few recognizable elements are actually stage dressing left by Universal Studios in 1979. Dixie Square Mall (circa late 1960s) In the early 1970's crime was becoming an increasing problem for Harvey, a suburb 20 miles south of Chicago. Is it time Harry & Meghan accept Clarkson's apology and move on? Its been an embarrassment, said Durnavich. For around 20 years, the hot bed of gang activity and vandalism sat untouched. The mall didn't fully open until November 10, 1966. Looters have stripped the mall of seemingly everything not drilled downplus some pieces that were. Please try again. dixie square mall Famous shopping mall in Harvey, Illinois, a south suburb of Chicago. Type: Brownfield land Description: former shopping mall in Harvey, Illinois, United States In 1972 and 1973 botched robberies led to two murders, while another took place as a woman was shot in her car by 4 youths while on her way to the mall. The now defunct Dixie Square Mall at 15301 Dixie Highway in Harvey, Illinois, was a prominent location in "The Blue Brothers" released 30 years ago. Official website. Business at the Mall dropped off, and crime escalated. [8][21] On April 14, 2005, a further plan was set in motion to demolish the remnants of Dixie Square (except for the Montgomery Ward building which was ostensibly being renovated for American Kitchen Delights) and bring top "big-box" retailers to the former mall site, including Costco, Kohl's, and Old Navy. In this scene, main characters Elwood and Jake Blues drive through storefronts, display cases, and walls and destroy much of the mall while being chased by Illinois State Police troopers. I would love to see more women interested in urbex and I even know plenty who are. Gang and drug . "National Brownfields Assessment Pilot." Besides that, it lacks the depth I feel the book needs for the price. Truly, Metro North Mall no longer looks like a mall, but a creepy, bygone, haunted sanitarium. I can't believe she paid $[] for this book (with shipping). Memories of Wayne Hills are warm, fuzzy, and nostalgic. [2] Construction began in late 1964, and Montgomery Ward was the first of the mall's stores to open, on October 21, 1965. After just 12 years, Dixie Square Mall closed for good, bringing a much different legacy for the property. [26] Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan also filed lawsuits against Deneen and several prior developers for failing to remove the asbestos in accordance with state law.[26]. The Mall is made up of many retailer stores and also has a food court. And then theres the hellscape it became after closing. 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