Dixie Square Mall

Dixie Square Mall, formally the Dixie Square Shopping Center, was an enclosed shopping mall at the junction of 151st Street and 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 anchor stores, with discount store Turn Style joining in 1970. The mall was in operation for twelve years, closing permanently in 1978. It is thus considered an early example of a dead mall; it was characterized by high vacancy rates and low patronage, which led to its closure. While many other dead malls were redeveloped or demolished, Dixie Square became notable for its extensive neglect, vandalism damage, and history. After closure, the mall was used for a scene in the film The Blues Brothers and then left abandoned. It achieved notoriety because of a growing Internet cult-following of urban exploration groups dedicated to covering the mall's deteriorating condition. In the decades after the mall closed, numerous proposals to redevelop the property were announced, though none came to fruition. Over the 30-plus years during which these proposals and others were presented and failed, Dixie Square Mall fell into disrepair and decay due to natural elements, vandalism, arson, and a lack of maintenance funds. Another proposal of redevelopment in 2005 resulted in halted partial demolition. Demolition funds were granted in September 2010, due to start in November, but delayed till February 2012 and final demolition was completed in May of that year.