Dixie Square Mall, Harvey, Illinois.

Dixie Hi was a 9-hole, par 36 golf course that opened in 1923 in Harvey, Illinois. The course was designed by William H. Metz & Associates, Inc. and was named for Dixie Highway. It was maintained and operated by the city of Harvey.

Harvey incorporated 58 acres of land in 1964, including the "Dixie Hi" golf course property. The course closed in 1965 due to financial difficulties. The golf course was demolished to make way for the Dixie Square Mall.

A fairway representation for the "Dixie Hi" golf course in Harvey, Illinois.

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Dixie Hi was an excellent 9-hole course that cost $1  or $2 to play in 1950. You had to be careful looking for golf balls at the 9th hole because the open field was full of Garter snakes. Scary things, all black with yellow stripes.                             —Anonymous

DIXIE SQUARE MALL

Dixie Square was at 151st Street and Dixie Highway (Western Avenue), Harvey, Illinois.

Dixie Square Mall's story began in 1964 when plans were announced for a fully-enclosed shopping plaza with fifty stores and concession services. The complex was built on a 58-acre site twenty-two miles south of downtown Chicago in south suburban Harvey.

The Mall (780,000 leasable sq. ft.) was developed by Meyer C. Weiner and designed by Grand Rapids, Michigan's Hornbach & Steenwyck firm. The $25 million ($241 Million today) construction project commenced in April 1965.

The Mall opened on August 31, 1966. 

Seventy-two days later, Dixie Square Mall held a premiere featuring Chicagoan Mel Tormé (1925-1999) on Thursday, November 10, 1966, the day after the Mall's Grand Opening. 

Mel Tormé  (1925-1999), 'The Velvet Fog,' was a famous jazz singer, musician, and actor in the 1950s and 60s. His performance at Dixie Square Mall was a major event for the new Mall. Tormé's performance was followed by a fireworks display. The event received media attention.

Mel Tormé made his professional debut at the age of 8 at the Blackhawk Restaurant in Chicago in 1933. He performed with the Coon-Sanders Orchestra, singing "You're Driving Me Crazy."

Mel Tormé "You're Driving Me Crazy" 1946

Mel Tormé performed at the following Chicago venues:

• Apollo Theater (1944).
• Chez Paree Nightclub, Tormé performed regularly (1950).
• Chez Paree Nightclub, Tormé headlines in Chicago with his own band and guests, Zoot Sims and Al Cohn. (1958).
• Chicago Jazz Festival (1956; 1995).
• Chicago Jazz Festival. Mel played drums on "Sing, Sing, Sing" with Benny Goodman (1979).
• Chicago Symphony Center with the Mel Tormé Orchestra (1984).
• Lyric Opera House of Chicago's "A Jazz Festival." Mel performed with Dizzy Gillespie and Duke Ellington. (1962)
• Lyric Opera of Chicago (1966).
• Ravinia, Highland Park, Illinois (1990 Festival).
• Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago. Tormé starred in the musical "Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean." (1990)

The first business to open was Montgomery Ward in a 2-level (182,000 sq. ft.) store on October 27, 1966. JCPenney's 2-level (144,000 sq. ft.) store anchored the center of the Mall. Inline stores included Walgreens, a Jewel supermarket and F.W. Woolworth 5 & Dime. The official grand opening of the retail hub took place on November 10-12.

Dixie Square Mall Map 1967

Dixie Square Directory Cover, 1967

The early years of Dixie Square Mall were successful. The Mall drew shoppers from another south-side mall, Park Forest Plaza (1949), nine miles south of Park Forest, and River Oaks Center (1966), six miles southeast, in Calumet City. 

1967 Dixie Square Mall Map ~ Click to Enlarge

An expansion was completed in 1970, adding a 1-level (108,400 sq. ft.) Turn֎Style Family Center. 

The shopping center is being promoted as Dixie Mall.

Dixie Mall Map 1974

Around the mid-70s, Dixie Mall's revenue was diminishing as more stores closed, and businesses didn't or wouldn't rent. The Mall reached the event horizon . . . the point of no escape in early 1978.

Turn Style's discount store closed at Dixie Mall in Harvey, Illinois, on January 1, 1978. It was one of the last stores to close at the Mall, which had been struggling for years. Turn֎Style closed after 12 years.

Montgomery Ward closed in December 1977, and JCPenney's in January 1978. By November, mall concourses were closed, with exterior-entranced Walgreens and Jewel stores remaining in business until early 1979.

The abandoned shopping center was signed over to the local school district, renting its space to director John Landis. He used the Mall for location shooting of his "Blues Brothers" motion picture, which was released in June of 1980.

Car-chase mall scene from the filming of the movie, "The Blues Brothers."

Car-chase mall scene from the filming of the movie, "The Blues Brothers."

Dixie Mall was utilized as a temporary school. After this, Dixie Mall was left to decay. Its roof was eventually compromised, allowing rain and snow to enter. Within a few years, the once pristine, $8 million shopping center resembled a nuclear test site.

Several botched attempts to redevelop the complex failed. During the last failed attempt, asbestos was discovered at the site, which resulted in an immediate cessation of demolition work.

In February 2010, another demolition project was announced, spearheaded by Chicago-based MG Development South Company, which gave up trying to get past the government red tape.

In retrospect, part of the decline of the shopping center has been attributed to the wave of crime that engulfed the area. Patrons were robbed and shot. Stores recorded staggering losses in the late 1970s, and the decay of the complex was becoming an issue.

Dixie Mall closed on November 19, 1978, twelve years (or 4,463 days) after opening.

A PITIFUL ENDING

Dixie Mall's twelve-year rise and fall are likely the quickest of any mid-20th century counterpart that wasn't attributed to a natural disaster. It must be a record. 

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The still open, Ford City Center  in Chicago, took drastic measures in 2017 to curb loitering, vandalism, theft, and sexual harasment. A curfew prohibits unacompanied children 17  and younger from entering the mall after 6pm on weekdays and 7pm on weekends.

The abandoned Mall became a popular spot for urban explorers and photographers in the years after it closed. It was also featured in the 1980 movie "The Blues Brothers." 

The Mall sat decrepit and decaying until the demolition of Dixie Mall started on January 25, 2014. 

The project's first stage, asbestos abatement, was completed in 2 weeks. Stage two, which entailed razing select structures, was completed between February and May 2014.

Today, the site of Dixie Mall is a vacant lot. It is a reminder of a time when things were different and a cautionary tale about the dangers of complacency.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Ford City Center, Chicago, Illinois.

THE WAR EFFORT

Ford City Center was initially built as a manufacturing plant for the Dodge Chicago Plant in 1942. It was used to produce B-29 bomber aircraft engines and other war materials during World War II. Approximately 17,000 workers were employed. By October, Building No. 1 was finished. 

The Dodge Chicago Plant office building, 7401 South Cicero Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, in 1942. Built on 500 acres of undeveloped (greenfield) land. The Dodge Chicago plant office building was 32,844 sq. ft. It also had a loading dock of 2,300 sq. ft. The plant had 5,551,744 sq. ft. or 128 acres of floor space. Only B-29 airplane engines were built here, each using over 18,000 individual parts. Five machines were built for every B-29 so replacements would be readily available.

By the spring of 1943, 10 steel, concrete and wood buildings had been constructed. The building covered approximately 6,000,000 square feet. The largest building was Building No. 4. It covered 62 acres and was built out of reinforced concrete. The plant contained 7,000 miles of underground piping and 15 miles of cables and wires for water and power.

By December 1945, the plant was left vacant due to the end of World War II. The government attempted to sell it without success.

The plant was later retrofitted for automobile production by the Tucker Corporation. The "Tucker Torpedo" was the name given during the concept and design phases. All 51 production cars sold under the "Tucker 48" nomenclature, so named for its model year.

The building remained a white elephant until the Korean War when it was reopened to build airplane engines for the war effort under contract from Ford Motor Company. The Ford company modernized everything inside the building, employing nearly 12,000 people. The facility closed again in 1959.

FORD CITY

In 1961, the government sold the shuttered plant to Harry F Chaddick, who, along with other investors, planned to develop a shopping center. Some buildings were torn down to make room for parking lots. The buildings that remained were remodeled to attract retail tenants. Developers divided the building into separate portions for the mall.

Ford City opened in 1965. The mall consists of two halves, a strip mall and an enclosed mall. 

Ford City Floor Plan 1966

The mall's original front facade and Main Entrance. A Woolworth Five and Dime and Harvest House Cafeteria are in the foreground, with a National Food grocery and JCPenney off in the distance.

The mall consists of two halves, a strip mall and the enclosed mall. The strip mall portion is connected to the enclosed mall by a tunnel called "Peacock Alley." It utilizes the basement between the severed halves of the buildings directly below the parking lot. The Connection was originally called Peacock Alley from the late 1970s through the 1980s. It was built in 1943 as part of the Ford City factory complex. The arcade was named after the famous Peacock Alley at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. As Ford City began to decline in the 1980s, many of the stores in the arcade closed, and the arcade itself became rundown. Changing the name to The Connection did not help revitalize the arcade, which closed in January 2019.

The Grand Mall at Ford City, soon after the official opening of the shopping center. The interior entry of the Harvest House Cafeteria is on the left. The Ford City Grill, also operated by F.W. Woolworth, is in the center of the image.

Another vintage view of the Grand Mall. The entry of the Wieboldt's department store, which anchored the west end of the complex, appears in the background.

Ford City Floor Plan 1975

Wieboldt occupied the western-facing space until 1987, when Carson Pirie Scott & Co. moved in. Montgomery Ward last occupied the southern-facing space until that chain's bankruptcy. That space has since been demolished. JCPenney occupies the eastern-facing space. 

In January 1988, a $52 million renovation got underway. The entire complex was given a facelift, store spaces were reconfigured, and the 10-bay Ford City Food Court was built in a previously-existing area. New signage, water features, flooring and skylights were installed.

A 1986 exterior view of the Ford City Wieboldt's. The nation's largest single-level department store was represented by 219,300 square feet.

Ford City was renamed Ford City Mall in 1989.

Ford City Floor Plan 1990

The General Cinema Corporation Ford City 14-multiplex was built, as a freestanding structure, in the southeast parking area. This venue debuted on August 1, 1990, with the Ford City I-II-III and Ford City East theaters being shuttered. The 14-multiplex was upgraded when the AMC Theatre bought it.

JCPenney built one of their "New Generation" stores at Ford City. It was the chain's largest single-level location. A freestanding JCPenney's Auto Center is seen on the right.

Turn Style had anchored the east end of the strip mall portion until the store was sold and converted to Venture and then to Sears until they closed the store in August 2010.

Until February 2008, General Growth Properties Inc., a private investment company, managed the mall.

In 2009-2010, Ford City Mall began a multimillion-dollar long-term capital redevelopment program undertaking North Mall infrastructure work, Cicero Avenue frontage and North Mall parking lot resurfacing. During this time, new tenants such as Conway (later Fallas), U.S. Cellular, Rodeo, Amici, Star Diamond Jewelers, GNC, She Bar, Eldorado Fine Jewelers, Avon, China Max, Sprint, and other stores opened for business at Ford City Mall. 

In early 2011, the Cicero Avenue pylon signs were refurbished for the second phase of the long-term capital redevelopment plan. This allowed tenants to gain maximum store signage exposure along heavily trafficked Cicero Avenue.

As part of the 2011 capital redevelopment program, Ford City Mall is demolishing several small out parcel buildings and a former vacant anchor store, leading the way to future development options under discussion.

In the summer of 2012, Ford City Mall closed part of The Connection and moved all retailers upstairs.

In mid-2013, a facelift renovation was announced, which was to have commenced in mid-2014. This would have rebuilt the complex's interior, relocated its Food Court, reconfigured most inline store space as big box retail and added several freestanding restaurants.

Ford City's renovation began in 2016. Plans include renovating the mall with corridor seating, new lighting and flooring and a newly remodeled food court. The Carson Pirie Scott & Co. and JCPenney were remodeled. A Five Below store in the North Mall portion opened in September 2016. In addition, several out parcels will be constructed near the Southern end of the mall as well as a new CTA transit center to be opened in 2017. An out-lot building that housed a Chipotle Mexican Grill and a Mattress Firm opened in 2017. An H&M store opened on August 9, 2018.

On April 18, 2018, Carson Pirie Scott & Co.'s parent company, The Bon-Ton Stores, announced they would close all of Carson's locations, including the Ford City, due to their bankruptcy. The store closed on August 29, 2018. 

Ford City Floor Plan 2019

The closure of Carson Pirie Scott & Co. left JCPenney as the only remaining anchor.

THE UNDER 17 MALL CURFEW

In 2009, the mall did institute a curfew for unaccompanied minors. The curfew prohibits children under 17 from entering the mall after 6pm on weekdays and 7pm on weekends. There are a few exceptions to the curfew, such as if the minor is accompanied by a parent or guardian or if they are attending a scheduled event at the mall. The curfew was instituted in response to concerns about minors' loitering, vandalism, and theft. The mall management believes that the curfew will help to create a safer and more welcoming environment for all shoppers.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale. Ph.D.