What Mall Was Used in the Car Chase Scene of the Movie the Blues Brothers
The untold story of the $25m shopping mall trashed in Blues Brothers epic police chase that was only just torn down after 30 years
- Dixie Square Mall, one of the first of many more to come in suburban America, began as a bustling center of commerce but went bust after only 13 years
- The 800,000 square foot shopping mall sat festering for 30 years as a hot bed of gang activity outside Chicago
In one of the more memorable scenes of the iconic 1980 film 'The Blues Brothers,' the title characters drive through shopping mall with police not far behind as shocked shoppers run for safety and the whole place ends up trashed.
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.
They leave behind them a completely wrecked suburban shopping center and that's how the place stayed forever after.
Failed: Built in 1966 and closed after only 13 years, Harvey, Illinois's Dixie Square Mall became memorable for good reasons and bad
Or at least almost forever after.
According to Jalopnik, the memorable moment took place in Harvey, Illinois's Dixie Square Mall. And after Hollywood left it in shambles, they left town without even cleaning it up.
A reader called Jonrev, who appears to have personally documented the mall's skeletal afterlife as well as its demolition, told the automotive blog the mall had actually closed down in 1979.
Hilarious: Aykroyd's character (right) notes dryly to John Belushi's (left), 'Lots of space in this mall,' in the indelible scene from the classic movie
Iconic: The suburban behemoth was the perfect setting for an indoor car chase in the 1980 classic
The 800,000 square foot behemoth had only been built 13 years prior, in 1966 on top of what was once a golf course.
A spike in crime in the area caused it to shut down just before director John Landis dressed it up for the famous scene and left without picking up after himself.
'Once the crew left,' wrote Jonrev, '(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.'
What was once a sprawling, $25 million mall with three anchor stores and over 60 merchants total became a 'bombed out shell.'
Trashed: The mall was dressed up then wrecked for the scene and left that way for over 20 years by the movie crew and director John Landis
'Bombed-Out Shell': The 800,000 square foot mall was closed due to a crime spike in the area and quickly went from suburban dream to crime riddled nightmare
Dangerous: The mall, seen here in its heyday, had 4 anchor stores at 60 merchants but became a magnet for gang activity in its decline
For around 20 years, the hot bed of gang activity and vandalism sat untouched.
By 2003, Dixie Square had become a favorite of photographers and blogs like Dead Malls who were fascinated by the monument to the suburban dream turned rotting nightmare.
After at least one murder, a rape, arsons, roof collapses, and a failed $76 million redevelopment attempt, the Chicago suburb had enough of its infamous landmark.
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.
Failed: Several attempts were made at revitalizing the mall, including a $76 million attempt in 2006, but all of them failed
No more: By 2003, the mall had become a favorite of photographers and bloggers. It was finally torn down in 2012
Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2316114/The-story-25m-shopping-mall-trashed-Blues-Brothers-epic-police-chase-just-torn-30-years.html
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