Rainbow (Amusement) Park (1950-1971); Fun Harbor USA (1971-1981); Fun Harbour, Waukegan, Illinois. (1992-2016)

RAINBOW PARK

Rainbow Park, a small amusement park, opened in 1950 on Lakehurst Road in Waukegan, Illinois, by a group of local businessmen. Rainbow Park featured a carousel, a Ferris wheel, and other kiddie rides. It was a popular destination for families and quickly became a fixture in the Waukegan community.

The park continued to grow and expand in the years that followed. New rides and attractions were added, and the park became a destination in the Chicago area. 

In the early 1970s, the park added a few carnival rides, including a Ferris wheel, bumper cars, and a Tilt-A-Whirl.

Rainbow Park was renamed Fun Harbor USA in 1971 and underwent a major renovation.

FUN HARBOR USA

The park's entrance was redesigned, and several new rides and attractions were added. A water park was added, which became a popular attraction for families during the summer months. Fun Harbor continued to grow and evolve over the years. The park added some new rides, including a roller coaster and a water slide. The park also added new food vendors and arcade games.

In the late 1970s, Fun Harbor began to face financial difficulties. The park struggled to compete with Dunes Kiddieland and other amusement parks in the area. They eventually closed in 1981.

ABANDONED

The park sat abandoned for 11 years before it was purchased by new owners Marc Klibanow and Jim Persino in 1990. 

FUN HARBOUR

Klibanow & Persino invested heavily in the park. The new and improved park reopened in 1992 under the name Fun Harbour. The amusement center had a large arcade with the latest pinball machines, video games, and Skee-Ball machines that dispensed tickets for performance in a "tickets-for-toys" system.

The variety of fun included batting cages and go-karts. An 18-hole, nautical-themed miniature golf course, rated by the US ProMiniGolf Association (USPMGA) at level 4 of 5 in difficulty.

Tokens Were Used Instead of Quarters for Pinball Machines, Video Games and skee-ball.

There were three birthday party rooms: The Dolphin, The Mermaid and The Pirate. The closure of Fun Harbour in 2016 was due to a combination of factors, including declining attendance, competition from other amusement venues, and financial difficulties. 

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Trout (Amusement) Park, Elgin, Illinois. (1890s-1922)

Trout Park in Elgin, Illinois, has a long and interesting history. 

The park was originally owned by Dr. P.W. Pratt, who enclosed a 70-acre parcel of land known as "Cedar Swamp" and began a fish hatchery on the site in 1872. It is situated on the east side of the Fox River, 1½ miles north of Elgin.

The hatchery was successful, and the park became known as "Trout Park." In the 1890s, the park was also home to an amusement park, which featured a variety of rides and attractions.

The park became a popular resort for pleasure seekers, especially Germans from Chicago. In 1895, the city of Elgin purchased the park and opened it to the public.

In the early 1900s, Trout Park was home to an amusement park, a botanical garden, and the Trails & Treasures Tea Room. The amusement park featured a carousel, a roller coaster, and other rides. The botanical garden was filled with various plants, including rare white cedar trees. The Trails & Treasures Tea Room featured a wall of windows with a view of the river and was a trendy spot for afternoon tea.

In 1910, Trout Park became home to Elgin's first semi-professional baseball team, the Elgin Kittens. The Kittens played their home games at a stadium in the park that could seat 3,500 spectators. The team played in the Northern Association, a minor league baseball league, from 1910 to 1912.

Trout Park remained a popular destination for Elgin residents throughout the 20th century. 

The park was designated an Illinois Nature Preserve in 1972 due to its rare white cedar trees and other natural features. Today, the park is still popular for hiking, fishing, and picnicking.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Galew, Ph.D.

Rainbow Playland, Waukegan, Illinois. (1928-1941); Dunes Kiddieland, Waukegan, Illinois. (1941-2003)

RAINBOW PLAYLAND

Rainbow Playland was founded by the Lundblad family. The park was renamed Dunes Kiddieland in 1941, surrounded by dunes, giving it its name. 

Rainbow Playland was a children's amusement park, located on a 10-acre parcel of land on the shore of Lake Michigan.

Rainbow Playland was known for its small, family-friendly rides. Lundblad was inspired to create a park for children after taking his own children to some other amusement parks in the Chicago area. He found that many of the rides and attractions at these parks were too large and scary for young children. Lundblad wanted to create a park where children could feel safe and have fun.

The park boasted about its petting zoo, playground, and picnic area.

This photo is a visual aid.

DUNES KIDDIELAND

The park's name was inspired by the sand dunes near the park. Dunes Kiddieland Park's rides and attractions were designed to cater to pre-teens and blended in with the natural surroundings. The Tilt-a-Whirl, for example, was painted to look like a sand castle. Some popular rides included a small Carousel, the Tilt-A-Whirl, a Kiddie Train, and later, Bumper Cars. 

Dunes Kiddieland closed in 2011 after the owner retired at the season's end.

These parks were owned by the same family for 75 years.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Golf Mill Center, Niles, Illinois.

Greater Chicago's eighth shopping mall was constructed on 88 acres, 22 miles northwest of downtown Chicago, in suburban Niles. The open-air facility was built by John F. Cuneo Sr. under the guidance of the Milwaukee-Golf Development Corporation. Ground was broken in November 1958.

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The name "Golf Mill" comes from the mall's located at the intersection of Golf Road and Milwaukee Avenue. The words "Town Center" substituted "Shopping Center" in the mall's name in the early 2000s to reflect and hopefully regain its role as a community gathering place.

The first nine Golf Mill Center stores opened for business on October 12, 1960, at Golf Road and Milwaukee Avenue in Niles, Illinois.

The Swanky Millionaires Club (Restaurant, Lounge), 239 Golf Mill Center, opened in 1960. The club closed in 1980 due to declining membership.

Included in this group was a 2-level (230,000 sq. ft.) Sears Roebuck & Co. divided the facility into North Mall and South Mall sections, forcing shoppers to traverse Sears to go between the North and South malls. 

Sears Roebuck & Co. operated out of three buildings; the main store structure, a Garden Center and 23-bay Auto Center. Sears Roebuck & Co. also had an optical department, Coffee House Cafe and the Lyric Beauty Salon. 

Golf Mill Center Map 1961 - The shiny new $40 million Golf Mill Center spanned 650,000 leasable square feet and contained sixty-five stores beneath its open canopies. Free parking was provided for 7,000 autos.

Inline stores in the North Mall included Lytton's, Walgreen Drug, Henry M. Goodman and a Hillman's supermarket. Some original South Mall tenants were Karroll's Men's Wear, Baker's Shoes, Richman Brothers Men's Wear, an F.W. Woolworth 5 & Dime and National Food Stores supermarket.

Mill Island was an outdoor seating area with a working water wheel and a Koi pond. It was outside the North Mall's east side in the Golf Mill Center.

A 1-level (50,000 sq. ft.), Evanston-based William Sinclair Lord's department store opened, at the south end of the complex, on October 18, 1961. With its completion, the shopping hub encompassed approximately 650,000 leasable square feet and housed sixty-eight stores and services.

The Golf Mill Theatre was dedicated on December 29, 1961. This single-screen venue was built as a southeastern out parcel of the mall. It morphed into the Golf Mill Theatres I & II on December 25, 1969, and Golf Mill Theatres 1-2-3 in 1973. The movie house was shuttered in the year 2000. 

The Mill Run Playhouse opened on July 12, 1965. It was scheduled to open in June 1965, but torrential rains delayed it. The theater was located on the north grounds of the Golf Mill Shopping Center. It was a 1,600-seat rotating theatre-in-the-round. The theater closed in August 1984 and was demolished shortly after. The site is now part of the south parking lot of the shopping center.

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The Mill Run Playhouse in Niles, Illinois, presented productions of off-Broadway shows, musicians, and comedians hosted a number of notable performers, including Sammy Davis, Jr., Lou Rawls, Ray Charles, Johnny Mathis, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Dolly Parton, Miles Davis, The Supremes, Tom Jones, and George Carlin.

The musical Hair was performed from December 5, 1972 to December 24, 1972. Hair is a rock musical.It tells the story of a group of hippies living in New York City in the late 1960s. The play was a critical and commercial success when it premiered off-Broadway in 1967. The play had a fully nude finale. Hair was revived on Broadway in 2009 and won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.

 

I was 12 years old when I saw Hair at the Mill Run Playhouse. 

By 1965, the Lord's store had closed. JCPenney renovated the vacant space, expanding it into a 2-level (184,700 sq. ft.) structure. A freestanding JCPenney's Auto Center was also built. The new "JCPenney" store opened on October 20, 1966.

Golf Mill Center Map 1967 - Golf Mill Center has undergone several changes. The Mill Run Playhouse, a theatre-in-the-round, has been added to the South Mall. Also, Lord's store closed, renovated, and reopened in the South Mall as "JCPenney."

A 1967 aerial view. The JCPenney store is seen on the right. Sears (upper left) was the center's original anchor. It is situated at the center and separates the North Mall and South Mall sections.

Regional shopping venues in the vicinity of Golf Mill Center included Old Orchard Shopping Center (1956) 4 miles east, in Skokie, Randhurst Shopping Center (1962) 5 miles northwest, in Mount Prospect, Woodfield Mall (1971) 9 miles west, in Schaumburg and Northbrook Court (1976) 7 miles northeast, in Northbrook. 

The Golf Mill Center's $40 million renovation commenced in August 1984. The North Mall structure was substantially reconfigured, demolishing its vacant Mill Run Playhouse. A strip of stores was built across from the existing blocks, creating a mall concourse. This was anchored by a 2-level (70,000 sq. ft.) MainStreet Department Store, based in Bannockburn, Illinois, opened in November 1985.

As the remodeling progressed, the entirety of the shopping hub was enclosed and climate-controlled. A vacant Woolworth space in the South Mall was sectioned into inline stores, and an 18-bay Food Court was built on the east side of the complex. A formal mall re-dedication was held on November 19, 1986.

Golf Mill Center Map 1987 - The Mill Run Playhouse was shuttered and demolished on the south end of the complex. In the mid-1980s, the shopping hub was expanded and fully enclosed. In 1987, a MainStreet store anchored the North Mall. The South Mall has also been reconfigured, with an ample Food Court installed.

There were over 150 stores and services. The MainStreet store was rebranded as Kohl's in March 1989. The following Golf Mill modification added a 1-level (103,000 sq. ft.) Target with a grand opening on October 11, 1998.

A second mall movie house, the Kerasotes Showplace 12-multiplex, showed its first features on November 17, 2006. An 8 million dollar mall remodeling project, underway at this time, included an exterior facelift, installation of new lighting, flooring and seating areas and a refurbishment of the Center Court and Main Entrance.

Golf Mill Center Map 2007 - A multi-screen cinema is the major attraction in the South Wing of Golf Mill Center. The complex now spans approximately 1,057,000 leasable square feet and contains 120 stores and services under its roof. The mall parking area has space for nearly 5,500 cars.

Moreover, a 1-level (40,400 sq. ft.), Columbus, Ohio-based, Value City Furniture store replaced a northeast mall entrance and several adjacent store spaces. The renovation was completed in late 2007. Golf Mill Center now spans 1,067,000 leasable square feet.

More recent modifications at Golf Mill Center involve the rebranding of the Kerasotes ShowPlace Theatres as the AMC Niles 12-Megaplex (July 2010), the opening of a freestanding Gordon Food Service Marketplace (April 2011) and the completion of an in-mall (26,900 sq. ft.) Ross Dress for Less (October 2012).

The West Entrance into Golf Mill Center on Greenwood Avenue.

Ownership of the shopping hub changed in August 2014. The Cuneo Family, its original developers, sold the complex to Palm Beach, Florida, Sterling Organization. Sears Roebuck & Co., which anchored the mall's center for over 58 years, pulled up stakes in December 2018.

Golf Mill Center Map 2017 - The mall was sold to a Florida Firm in 2014. Within a few years, the shopping complex was in decline. The closing of Sears Roebuck & Co. in late 2018 sealed the mall's fate. It would be partially demolished and replaced by a mixed-use facility called Golf Mill Town Center.

The Golf Mill Center was in a downward spiral by this time. The Sterling Organization announced plans for a massive redevelopment in January 2022. As part of this 2-phase, $429 million project, the center would be returned to its original open-air format. 

The 9-story Professional Building was completed in 1963.

The abandoned Sears and the 9-story Professional Building would be demolished during Phase I. In all, 600,000 square feet would be razed.

Golf Mill Center was renamed Golf Mill Town Center in 2017.

Golf Mill Town Center Furure Site Plan - A Golf Mill Town Center site plan for 2025 indicates new construction in white, with structures from the original mall in gray. The revitalized retail complex will encompass approximately 600,200 leasable square feet and contain around twenty-eight stores and services.

Golf Mill Town Center would cover approximately 600,200 leasable square feet. Existing JCPenney, Target, Burlington, and Ross stores would be left standing. 194,000 square feet of new retail would be built. Completion of Phase I was plotted for some time in 2025. The Phase II project would then be started, adding various residential and hospitality structures.

The new and improved Golf Mill Town Center will incorporate shopping, residential, office and hospitality components. New construction would include a modern reproduction of the water wheel, a feature of the original mall.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Hillside Center, Hillside, Illinois.

Hillside Center

Chicagoland's fourth shopping mall was built on a 63-acre site 15 miles west of downtown Chicago in suburban Hillside. The ground was broken for Hillside Center in April 1955. The 428,000-square-foot, open-air complex was designed by Chicago's Bruce A. Gordon & Company and Welton Becket & Associates of Los Angles, California. It was developed by Hubert E. Howard, Senior, Hubert E. Howard, Junior and Chicago-based Carson Pirie Scott & Co.

A 1-level (72,000 square foot) Chicago-based Goldblatt Brothers store opened for business on September 26, 1956.

Hillside Center Map 1956

The mall, and an initial thirty stores, were officially dedicated on October 3, 1956. Carson Pirie Scott's 3-level (125,000 square foot) unit was dedicated, along with six inline stores, on October 25. The store opened with a grand celebration. The Scots Kiltie Band played bagpipe music, accompanied by six folk dancers and Tartan-clad lassies. Hubert E. Howard, Senior and Junior, John T. Pirie, Junior and Michael Yundt (Hillside Village President) attended the grand opening festivities.

Hillside Center Map 1957

By late 1958, fifty-eight stores and services were in operation. These included Bond Clothes, Fabric Fair, Kinney Shoes, Thom McAn Shoes, Karroll's Mens Wear Shop, Burny Brothers Bakery, Hillside Center Barber Shop, a Slenderella Figure Salon and F.W. Woolworth 5 & Dime.

An out-parcel structure in the northwest parking area housed Kroger (21,000 sq. ft.) and Strickland (72,000 sq. ft.) supermarkets which opened in September 1956.

Illustration of the Hillside Center Kroger Supermarket.

The Brotman & Sherman Hillside Theatre was built on a pad across Harrison Street from the mall. The single-screen venue opened on July 13, 1962, with the first feature film being The Music Man. 

Architectural sketch of the exterior of the Hillside Theatre in 1962.

The theater was split into two, then three screens before being shuttered in late 2000.

Meanwhile, the mall had been sold to the Greenfield Real Estate Investment Trust in the mid-1960s. They initiated a $600,000 remodeling. Goldblatt's was expanded by 30,000 square feet, and the mall concourse and entryways were enclosed and climate-controlled.

By the mid-1960, Hillside Center's popularity began toppling because of the nearby Yorktown Center and Oakbrook Center malls. A $600,000 renovation was completed in August 1967, with all courts and concourses enclosed and climate-controlled.

A re-dedication ceremony was held on August 17, 1967.

Hillside Center Map 1967

The complex now incorporated approximately 471,000 leasable square feet. Among sixty stores and services were Fannie May Candies, Sun Drug, Parklane Hosiery, Lyon & Healy Music, Armand's restaurant, Candies From Around The World and the Household Finance Corporation.

Unfortunately for Hillside Center, newer, larger, and more expensive shopping malls proliferated in its trade area. Oakbrook Center, 3 miles southwest in Oak Brook, had opened in 1962. This was followed by Yorktown Center (1968), 6 miles southwest, in Lombard, North Riverside Park Mall (1976), 5 miles southeast, in North Riverside, and The Brickyard (1977), 7 miles northeast, in Chicago.

An interior facelift was given to Hillside Center in 1977, but this failed to stave off the mall's eventual decline. It was sold to Unicorp American Corporation of New York City in 1981. By this time, the center was in dire straits. A third remodeling, envisaged by the Chicago Design Group, was performed between May and November of 1983.

Hillside Center Map 1983

Center Court ceilings were replaced as part of this $3 million project. The Oasis Food Court was set up in vacant store space beneath a newly-installed arched skylight. Eateries in the food facility included Dog Patch hot dogs, Mazzone's, B.G. Burgers and 1 Potato 2 Potato. On the outside of the shopping venue, a grid of tubular framework topped a newly-built Main Entrance. The exterior was also covered in a light concrete finish. Lastly, the official name of the complex was changed to Hillside Mall.

Goldblatt's closed on January 1, 1982, and was replaced by Zayre in November 1982. This store was rebranded, as a Rocky Hill, Connecticut-based Ames, in October 1989. It closed for good in 1990.

The mall's downward spiral continued into the new decade. It was purchased by Northbrook-based New Castle Partners in January 1992. They decided to reposition the complex as a value-oriented shopping hub, changing its name to "West Point Center" in February. Chicago's Green Hiltscher & Shapiro firm was hired to redesign the facility.

A third Hillside Center remodeling was done in 1992, with the mall's official name being changed again to West Point Center. Menards Home Improvement also replaced the vacant Goldblatt's, former Zayre and Ames stores.

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West Point is a neighborhood in Hillside, Illinois, named  when it was platted in 1893. It was named after the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York (est. July 4, 1802). The name was changed to "West Point Center" in 1923. 

By 1996, the 40-year-old West Point Center was virtually vacant. It was razed in 1997, leaving Menards standing. Newly-recruited inline stores included The Book Market Inc. and Gifts For Success Outlet. 

The Village of Hillside demolished Carson's and the remainder of the mall proper. The old supermarket building and Menard's were left standing. 

Unfortunately, the remarketing of the mall was unsuccessful. After the shuttering of Carson's in mid-1997, the end was at hand. The Village of Hillside and Richmond, Virginia-based CarMax devised a de-malling plan.

Eventually, CarMax opened in 1999 on the 20-acre Carson's site, aided by a Tax Increment Financing arrangement with the Village of Hillside.

In 2010, West Point Center housed thirteen store spaces besides CarMax and Menards, Harlem Furniture, Allstate Insurance, Ideal Home Mortgage, Hillside Currency Exchange and an out-parcel CIB Bank.

In 2012, Menards closed and was demolished shortly after that, eliminating the last original building that was part of the Hillside 'Shopping' Center. This caused the property owners to place a 13-acre section, not including CarMax, on the open market.

Hillside Town Center

The Hillside Town Center, located at 30 South Mannheim Road in Hillside, Illinois, opened on May 17, 2010. It's a 36-acre retail development situated immediately southwest of Mannheim Road, Eisenhower Expressway (I-290) interchange.

Hillside Town Center 2018

The Hillside Town Center includes a Super Target, Michaels, Petco, HomeGoods, Ross Dress for Less, and Krispy Kreme.

Krispy Kreme, Hillside Town Center, 110 South Mannheim Road, Hillside, Illinois.

The center is also home to several smaller retailers, restaurants, and service businesses. The Hillside Town Center development includes 1,568 new parking spaces and new entrances off local and state routes for a new hotel and 21 new retail stores.

Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Hillside Town Center, 200 South Mannheim Road, Hillside, Illinois, opened in 2004.

It's a reminder of the changing retail landscape in the Chicago area. As shopping habits have changed, so too have the types of shopping centers built. The first Hillside Center was once a popular destination for shoppers but could not compete with the newer, giant malls.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Evergreen Plaza, Evergreen Park, Illinois.

In the early 1950s, two regional-class, suburban shopping centers were being developed on the outskirts of Chicago. Initial stores at Park Forest Commercial Center opened in 1949 and 1950. The first anchor-type department store was dedicated in late 1953.

A second shopping center was being built on a 25-acre plot located 16 miles southwest of downtown Chicago in the Village of Evergreen Park. Evergreen Plaza was an early project of visionary real estate entrepreneur Arthur Rubloff. The open-air facility was designed by Chicago-based Holabird, Root, Burgee & Howard T. Fisher & Associates.

A vintage newspaper ad announces the grand opening of the third branch of Chicago's The Fair department store chain. The $6 million unit was dedicated, as the first operational Evergreen Plaza tenant, in August 1952.

Evergreen Plaza was originally a strip mall encompassing 482,000 leasable square feet. The complex consisted of a main retail level and two basement floors; the Arcade Level and Terrace (Lower) Level.

The first operational store, a 4-level (170,000 sq. ft.), Chicago-based The Fair Store, welcomed its first shoppers on August 25, 1952. 

Tenants continued to open businesses over the next 2 years. Major stores included a 2-level Chicago-based Carson Pirie Scott & Co. (44,000 sq. ft.) opened a specialty store in December 1952, Lytton's (30,000 sq. ft.) and Walgreens (10,000 sq. ft.) first shopping center store.

Among 58 original inline stores were Hudson-Ross Home Appliances, Kinney Shoes, The Cotton Shop, Florsheim Shoes, Singer Sewing Center, Lerner Shops, Chandler's Shoes, A.S. Beck Shoes, an S.S. Kresge 5 & Dime, Jewel, and Kroger supermarkets.

Sixteen years of planning went into the original Plaza. By 1957, the $15 million center encompassed 482,000 leasable square feet and housed fifty-eight stores. In addition to The Fair and Carson Pirie Scott & Co., it included Lytton's junior department store, S.S. Kresge 5 & Dime and Walgreens (their first shopping center store). The split-level parking lot could accommodate 2,300 autos.

S.S. Kresge sold The Fair stores to Montgomery Ward in July 1957. The Evergreen Plaza unit, seen above, encompassed 4 levels and 170,000 square feet.

A large expansion began in late 1961. A dual-level, open-air mall of 65 stores was built onto the south end of the existing structure. 

The Plaza's Carson Pirie Scott & Co. opened its doors as part of the South Mall expansion in March 1963. The 250,000-square-foot store replaced a smaller 44,000-square-foot specialty store located in the original shopping center.

Its 4-level (250,000 sq. ft.) Carson Pirie Scott & Co. (relocated the 1952 store) held its grand opening on March 11, 1963. The Fair, which had been rebranded by Montgomery Ward on April 28, 1964, was enlarged to 230,000 square feet.

The South Mall expansion also added a 1,800-car parking garage and a twin cinema. The M&R Evergreen Theatres 1-2 opened June 26, 1964, as one of America's earliest shopping mall twin cinemas. New South Mall stores included Koch's & Brentano's, O'Connor & Goldberg Shoes, Tie Rak, National Uniform Shop, Hickory Farms and Evergreen Plaza Shaver Shop. Existing stores such as Maurice L. Rothschild and Chandler's Shoes were also relocated.

A major expansion was done between 1961 and 1963. An open-air South Mall was built, anchored by a new, full-line Carson Pirie Scott & Co. The renovation added sixty-five stores, a gigantic parking structure and one of the nation's first mall-based twin cinemas. There was now free parking for 4,750 autos. Within 1 year, another renovation would be underway that would enclose all courts and concourses.

With these improvements, Evergreen Plaza housed approximately 1,210,000 leasable square feet and contained 108 store spaces. The remodeling was only completed after another project got underway. All courts and concourse were enclosed, climate-controlled and rededicated on May 19, 1966.

The 8-story Evergreen Plaza Tower was dedicated in December of 1970. It stood on the south end of the mall site, adjacent to Carson's and the Evergreen Theatre.

By this time, Evergreen Plaza was facing a significant competitor. The predominantly-enclosed Ford City Center,  3.5 miles northwest in Chicago, opened for business in August 1965. In Oak Lawn, Chicago Ridge Mall, 5 miles west, was inaugurated in November 1981. Evergreen Plaza was refurbished in several stages between the mid-1980s and late 1990s to remain competitive.

$15 million were invested in various projects, including renovating all common areas and installing new elevators and escalators. A 7-bay Food Court, built in the gutted Lower Level space, was completed in October 1997. At this time, the official name of the shopping center was shortened to The Plaza.

The mall's fully-enclosed courtyard area connected the original shopping plaza and the newer South Mall. The room was originally conceived in the early 1960s and is known as Evergreen Square. When this picture was taken in 2000, its official name was Center Square.

An early 2000s view of the north shopping concourse. Office Depot adopted the old Walgreens spot after that store closed in 2005. Office Depot closed its store in 2008. Next, Planet Fitness moved into that space.

The Montgomery Ward chain went out of business in March 2001. The store sat vacant until being re-tenanted by New York-based National Wholesale Liquidators. They leased 2 levels of the 4-level structure and opened for business in 2005. 

Circuit City, which had maintained a Plaza presence since the early 1990s, closed its store in 2005.

An $8 million mall renovation commenced in 2003. The parking garage and multiplex cinema (which had closed in July 1999) were demolished. Moreover, mall entrances were updated, sidewalks widened, new landscaping installed, and an out parcel Applebee's restaurant was built in the northeast parking area. These renovations were completed in 2007.

This 2008 plan shows areas rebuilt since the 1960s in light gray. The gigantic parking garage, once touted as one of the largest in the USA, was demolished in 2003...along with a shuttered Evergreen Theatre. By this time, The Plaza Mall was in a downward spiral that would never escape.

Such a large-scale refurbishment seems odd in the context of future plans announced for The Plaza. Soon after the renovation was completed, the owners, Chicago-based Evergreen Plaza Associates, divulged plans for a partial demolition. A 220,000 sq. ft. power center would be built to replace razed sections of the mall.

This revitalization was derailed by the recession. The Plaza lost it's Office Depot in 2008 and National Wholesale Liquidators in 2010. An inline store exodus ensued. The virtually vacant retail hub was foreclosed on in July 2011. It went into receivership in August.

A joint venture of Northbrook, Illinois-based GMX Real Estate and the Deerfield, Illinois-based Janko Group bought the property's $20 million foreclosure note. Refined plans for the mall makeover were announced in April 2012. The goal was to shutter the mall and demolish everything except for a 9-tenant store block on the north end and a freestanding Applebee's restaurant. Carson's was to relocate into a new 2-level (120,200 sq. ft.) building.

An open-air power center was to replace the moribund (in terminal decline) mall, with new stores opening between July and November of 2014. Unfortunately, the new owners of The Plaza could not secure a supermarket for their redevelopment. The project fell through in August 2012, with the mall closing for good on May 31, 2013.

Tampa, Florida's DeBartolo Development came on the Evergreen scene in March 2013 with a plan to restart the redevelopment process. As in the original plan, a new Carson's was to be built and existing Applebee's and Planet Fitness stores were retained. The remainder of the shopping hub was to be knocked down and replaced by an open-air power center.

DeBartolo formed a joint venture with Bloomfield Hills and Michigan-based Lormax Stern. A revised rebuilding plan was announced in March 2015. A forty-store Evergreen Plaza Marketplace would be built. Work commenced in October 2015. The northern portion of the mall, housing Planet Fitness, was left standing, along with Applebee's and the Evergreen Plaza Tower on the south end of the site. Carson's store was left intact until a new building could be completed.

A redevelopment was announced in April 2012. A great deal of the mall was bulldozed and replaced by an open-air complex. However, this project fell through in August 2012. In October 2015, the project came to fruition, and Evergreen Plaza Marketplace arose from the rubble.

The new Carson's, a 2-level (120,500 sq. ft.) structure, opened for business on September 14, 2016. By this time, the official name of the new shopping complex had reverted back to Evergreen Plaza. The dedication of Carson's was followed by those for a (29,100 sq. ft.) 365 by Whole Foods Market and (49,300 sq. ft.) Dick's Sporting Goods. Other charter stores included DSW, Five Below, T.J. Maxx and Party City.

Evergreen Plaza operated with two adjacent shopping facilities, occupying a site north of 95th Street. Fairway Plaza, anchored by Walmart and Sam's Club, was completed in 2006. Evergreen Marketplace, housing Menard's and Meijer's stores opened in 2013. 

The old mall has been demolished, with the remaining sections shown in black. Evergreen Plaza now incorporates 380,600 leasable square feet and houses twenty-six stores in its main structure and out parcels. The shiny new Carson's store would be short-lived. It would be shuttered less than 2 years after its grand opening.

The first stores in the new strip mall opened in September 2016. The official name, Evergreen Plaza Marketplace, had been shortened to simply Evergreen Plaza.

A Logo Montage of Evergreen Plaza.

Carson's at Evergreen Plaza was shuttered in August 2018 as part of the bankruptcy and liquidation of owners, The Bon Ton Stores. Macy's re-tenanted the store space with a new format, a combination store, on October 7, 2022. The first level was refashioned into a Market By Macy's, with the second-floor housing a Macy's Backstage.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Lakehurst Mall, Waukegan, Illinois.

The first regional-class shopping mall in Greater Chicago's Lake County was built on 80 acres, 43 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. Planning for Lakehurst Mall got underway in late 1968 when the land was acquired. The City of Waukegan soon annexed the property.

Construction on the bi-level complex began in September 1969. Victor Gruen Associates of Los Angeles were assisted by New York City's Sidney H. Morris & Associates firm. Victor Gruen did not have any input in the design of the project. The shopping center was developed by a joint venture of Carson Pirie Scott & Company, Wieboldt Stores and Chicago's Arthur Rubloff, who had built Chicago's Evergreen Plaza Mall in the early 1950s.

Lakehurst Mall opened with 65 stores and services on August 19, 1971.

The mall would eventually house 120. The Mayor of Waukegan, Robert Sabonjian and Pamela Eldred, "Miss America 1970," attended the grand opening celebration.

In 1971, Lakehurst Mall spanned 1.1 million leasable square feet and housed 120 stores and services when fully leased. Parking areas, color-coded as either red, orange, blue or green, accommodated 6,000 autos. Although a Southwest Wing of stores, including a fourth anchor store, was planned, it was never built.

The complex spanned nearly 1.2 million leasable square feet and was anchored by a 3-level (226,000 sq. ft.), Chicago-based Carson Pirie Scott & Co. In a 2-level (191,800 sq. ft.), Chicago-based Wieboldt's, and 2-level (173,800 sq. ft.) JCPenney. 

Stores included Globe Apparel, Chess King, Foxmoor Casuals, Charles A Stevens, J. Riggings Men's Wear, Bresler's 33 Flavors Ice Cream, Orange Julius, Hickory Farms, Singer Sewing Center, Camelot Music, B. Dalton Bookseller and Waldenbooks. An out-parcel Convenience Center was located west of the mall proper. It included a (43,000 sq. ft.) Jewel Foods supermarket, Osco Drug, Lakehurst Liquors, Lakehurst Car Wash and Ace Hardware.

Belvidere Mall (1965) was the nearest major shopping hub, 2 miles northeast of Waukegan. At 300,000 square feet, it was dwarfed by Lakehurst, which was four times its size. Ultimately, Belvidere Mall survived long enough to eclipse its larger counterpart.

A vintage view of the Central Court at Lakehurst Mall. The metal mobile sculpture was created by New York City's Joseph McDonald at the cost of $20 thousand. Behind the escalator, on the Lower Level, is a Wimpy Grills hamburger chain restaurant. Its United States stores were shuttered in 1978.

The General Cinema Corporation Lakehurst Cinema was built on a pad southeast of Lakehurst Mall. The theater opened, as a 3-screen venue, on February 15, 1974. 

The freestanding Lakehurst Cinema 3-multiplex opened for business in February 1974. It was expanded in 1984 and 1987 and demolished in the summer of 2007.

It became a 5-screen operation in 1984 and 12-multiplex in 1987. The Lakehurst Cinema 12 was shuttered in 2001. It operated as the Village Theatres Lakehurst 12 between 2004 and January 2007. The building was demolished in August 2007, and a Holiday Inn Express was built in its footprint.

An exterior view of the mall's northeast corner. JCPenney store is on the left, with a portion of a Wieboldt's store appearing on the right.

A facelift refurbishment had been done to Lakehurst Mall in 1982, with much of its early 70s decor replaced by a more muted color palette. 

A set of "Sunburst" fountains replaced the Central Court water feature.

In 1985, the center was acquired by Cleveland's Richard E. Jacobs Group. They would never renovate the property.

The Lakehurst JCPenney's was one of the last stores to use their 1963 logo, which was retired in 1971. The Lakehurst Mall store was dedicated on August 19, 1971. A store opened in Schaumburg's Woodfield Mall on September 9, 1971, featuring their new (Helvetica font) JCPenney nameplate.

This 1985 diagram shows Lakehurst Mall and its peripheral development.

Meanwhile, the malling of Chicagoland was beginning to take its toll on Lakehurst. This downturn in fortune was exacerbated by the shuttering of Wieboldt's in August 1986. After a brief stint as a temporary elementary and middle school, the lower level of the building was sectioned into six retail spaces. The upper level reopened as an (81,500 sq. ft.) Montgomery Ward, on April 12, 1988.

In the second Lakehurst Mall layout, the north anchor has been re-tenanted. After Wieboldt's closed in 1986, the building was used as a temporary elementary and middle school. In 1988, the structure's first floor was partitioned into six store spaces, the largest leased by Dunham's Sports. Montgomery Ward moved into the second floor.

The Chicago-based Carson Pirie Scott & Co. chain occupied the largest Lakehurst Mall store, encompassing 3 floors and 226,000 square feet. It housed a third-level Budget Store and Heather Room restaurant in its early days.

The completion of Gurnee Mills (1991) 4 miles northwest, in Gurnee, signaled the beginning of the end for Lakehurst. Early in the decade, the retail roster had listed 100 tenants. 

By 1997, this number was down to fifty. JCPenney's was shuttered on December 27, 1997. Montgomery Ward was also out of business by year's end. In 2000, there were a mere five stores still in operation.

Lakehurst Mall closed for good on January 31, 2001. 

The Carson's store remained in business until January 15, 2004. The mall's demolition had actually begun the previous November. By May 2004, the once-mighty shopping venue had been reduced to rubble.

The mall site, now cleared of all structures, was redeveloped gradually. This project was overseen by the Oak Brook, Illinois-based Shaw Company, which acquired the moribund (in terminal decline) mall in 2003. 

Lakehurst Mall had been shuttered since January 2001. Carson's remained in business until January 2004. The shopping center was demolished between November 2003 and May 2004. The first newly built structure was a 1-level (204,000 sq. ft.) Walmart Super Center opened in April 2006.

Walmart was followed by Fifth Third Bank, a Murphy USA gas station, Sweet Tomatoes restaurant, Chili's Grill & Bar and Spring Hill Suites by Marriott Hotel, all freestanding structures. A (50,400 sq. ft.) strip mall, Fountain Square of Waukegan, opened in 2008. The grand opening of this complex was followed by those for Bank of America, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Panda Express.

The site has also been redeveloped with two small inline plazas. This image is Fountain Square of Waukegan, which opened in 2008.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.