page_title: Dixie Square Mall
section_title: Demolition plans resume
hierarchical_section_title: Dixie Square Mall / Demolition and redevelopment plans / Demolition plans resume
caption_attribution_description: English: The twisted I-beams are all that remain of Dixie Square. I took this photo 30 minutes after this final portion came down.
context_page_description: 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, J. C. Penney, Woolworth, Walgreens, and Jewel as its major stores, with discount store Turn Style joining in 1970. The mall was in operation for twelve years, closing permanently in 1978. After closure, the mall was used for a scene in the film The Blues Brothers and then left abandoned. The mall also achieved notoriety because of a growing internet cult following of urban exploration groups dedicated to covering the mall's deteriorating condition. Like other dead malls, it was characterized by high vacancy rates and low patronage, which led to its closure. However, while many other dead malls were redeveloped or demolished, Dixie Square became notable for its extensive neglect, vandalism damage, and sordid history.
  In the decades after the mall closed, numerous proposals to redevelop the property were announced though none came to fruition.
context_section_description: 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.
  Governor Pat Quinn announced on September 23, 2010, that a $4 million federal grant would be used to demolish the mall. Quinn also stated that the total cost would be around $5 million, with the remainder of the money coming from federal disaster recovery funds given to the state due to flooding in 2008. According to officials, demolition was to start in November of that year and take four to six months. In June 2011, ruins of the mall remained standing with demolition funding still available, but with the demolition project itself mired in government regulatory hurdles.
caption: The last remains of Dixie Square as seen on May 17, 2012
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