Lakehurst Mall
Encyclopedia
Lakehurst Mall was the first regional shopping complex
in the northern Chicago suburb
county of Lake County
. It was built in 1971 to service the growing town of Waukegan
, the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, and eventually the far northern suburban sprawl of Chicago. After several years of decline, Lakehurst closed in 2001, and was demolished in 2004.
(Belvedere Road) and Illinois Route 43
(Waukegan Road), close to the busy Tri-State Tollway
. The developers' plan was to build a mixed-use (commercial/office/residential) project, named "Lakehurst", on this sprawling site. This plan developed after a five-year research project of Lake County concluded that Lake County would be one of the fastest developing areas of the Midwest
. Lakehurst Mall - along with office and residential areas surrounding the mall - would be built to service this new population.
The mall was designed by Sidney H. Morris and Associates of Chicago and Gruen Associates of Los Angeles; Gruen was a well-known name in mall construction, dating from their pioneering 1956 design of Southdale Center
in Edina, Minnesota
. Initially, Arthur Rubloff & Co. of Chicago was the management and leasing agent for Lakehurst. Construction on the mall began about one year later, in September 1969.
The new mall was substantially larger than other malls in the area, at 1.1 million square feet (102,000 m²); it included three major department store
s and about 100 smaller stores, some never before seen in the Lakehurst area. The architectural style reflected trends of the time: the Carson Pirie Scott
anchor was built in alternating stripes of cream- and salmon-colored brick, with complementary red accents and logos, a wild departure from previous store designs; the Wieboldt's
anchor featured arched facades and a gazebo
; the JC Penney
anchor was built in the same style of other JC Penney stores of the era and featured "Penney's" signage. The mall included a large center court - dominated by a glittering chrome mobile
and a circular fountain - and four wings, each color-coded and designed to lead to an anchor tenant. Each entrance to the mall had a color-coded entrance: green, red, yellow, or blue. (A fourth anchor, believed to be a Sears
or Bergner's
store,was planned to open about five years later at the end of the blue wing, but this never came to pass)
A convenience center, which included the Chicago-native grocery store Jewel-Osco, was added to the original plan, as were over 6,000 parking spaces. To get customers to their destination, the two major roads around the mall were widened and fitted with signs directing traffic to the new mall and to the newly developed area.
The 1970s was the best-performing decade of the mall's history. Outparcels of the mall site were developed into the General Cinema Lakehurst 12 movie theatre (which opened in 1974) and restaurants such as Red Lobster
. An apartment complex with over 200 apartment
buildings was completed by the mid-1970s. Access roads were added on the two major roads as well as a multi-level interchange between Route 120 and Route 43.
Special events at the mall were common throughout the 1970s. The center court of the mall was a hot spot, with events such as the Waukegan Auto Show, the Midwest Antique Show, and free public concerts. A team of trampolinists tried (but failed) to set a record for continuous trampoline bouncing in a well-publicized stunt. A monthly newsletter, The Lakehurst News, was created for the mall's merchants' association; it was also included in neighborhood newspapers and acted as the mall's calendar of events.
Problems arose shortly after the mall's opening. Debates began over the annexation of the mall property, with critics arguing over whether the mall was actually in Waukegan or not. The new road improvements also cost more than the original price, sparking additional debates. Despite these problems, the mall reported ever-increasing annual earnings for its first decade, peaking at $134 million in 1981 (the last year the mall reported earnings publicly).
In 1979, the flashy design of Lakehurst was remodeled using a softer, earth-based palette (again reflecting trends of the time). The bright green, yellow, and red colors were replaced by oak
paneling; however, the blue colors - seen as symbolic of the old mall and the logo of Lakehurst Mall - were retained. Two fountain
s were added to the shopping center, and carpet
was also installed throughout the center court.
hotel to the area. Pier 1 Imports and Service Merchandise
were built on outparcels. More improvements were undertaken, including the repaving and rebuilding of Lakehurst Road and the parking lots. The older stores were remodeled.
October 1982 brought new management. Jacobs, Visconsi, and Jacobs (a.k.a. the Jacobs Group), a Cleveland, Ohio-based manager of shopping malls, bought the actual mall and the convenience center from Arthur Rubloff. (The anchor properties were owned by their respective department stores.) The JC Penney
Auto Shop closed in 1983 at part of a national decision by JC Penney to leave the auto repair business. Additionally, the Globe Company - a local Lake County company, founded in 1898 - went bankrupt and closed their Lakehurst Mall store in 1985.
In August 1986, the Wieboldt's
anchor went out of business, prior to the eventual closure of the entire chain. Wieboldt's management blamed the closure on the extensive distance between this store and their Chicago distribution hub, which incurred substantial expenses. The company sold their location to the Jacobs Group. The location being vacant came as a blessing when 1986 brought floods to Gurnee, Illinois
, severely damaging two of the city's three elementary schools. Students in kindergarten through fourth grade were housed in the sole undamaged elementary school, while more than 600 fifth through eighth grade students were housed in the old Wieboldt's space. The space was informally known as "Wieboldt U" during that time, and the former store's shelving units were used for school storage.
After the school was renovated and the "Wieboldt U" students left, Dunham's Sports
became an anchor on the lower level; several months later, Montgomery Ward
moved into the upper level and built a new auto service center on an outparcel. The Montgomery Ward store had previously been located in the Belvidere Mall
a few miles down Route 120. With the major anchor at Belvidere Mall gone, most thought that Belvidere Mall would close soon. It turned out that Lakehurst would close before Belvidere would.
opened seven miles (11 km) away from Lakehurst. The newer, larger Gurnee Mills proved a much larger draw than expected, devastating Lakehurst's retail base.
The decade began in promising fashion, with 100 tenants still leasing. But by 1997, about fifty businesses remained in the mall, with the number decreasing by the month. In early 1998, both Montgomery Ward and JCPenney pulled out of Lakehurst, leaving Carson Pirie Scott
as the sole anchor. The Jacobs Group sold Lakehurst in the summer of 1998; the price was $30 million, a little less than that of the sale price in 1982.
Fewer than five tenants remained by 2000. These included the Gift Tree and Barbary Coast stores in the mall, as well as the Carson Pirie Scott anchor. When the leases on the two mall stores ended on January 31, 2001, the mall was shuttered and, with only Carson's still in operation, the "Lakehurst era" ended. During the mall's final days, a portion of the upcoming film "'77" was filmed inside the former KB Toys building.
Preparations for the demolition
of the mall began in 2003, when ownership officially changed from the Jacobs Group to the Shaw Company of Oak Brook, Illinois. The demolition began in November 2003, near the JCPenney store.
Despite this, Carson's stayed open for the Christmas
season and closed on January 15, 2004. The JCPenney section of the mall was demolished in February 2004, the Wieboldt's/Montgomery Ward section was next, and the Carson's section was the last to be razed. The gazebo of the Wieboldts anchor outlasted the anchor, but was removed just after the Carson's anchor was razed.
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
in the northern Chicago suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
county of Lake County
Lake County, Illinois
Lake County is a county in the northeastern corner of the state of Illinois, on the shore of Lake Michigan. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 703,462, which is an increase of 9.2% from 644,356 in 2000. Its county seat is Waukegan. The county is part of the Chicago metropolitan area...
. It was built in 1971 to service the growing town of Waukegan
Waukegan, Illinois
Waukegan is a city and county seat of Lake County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 87,901. The 2010 population was 89,078. It is the ninth-largest city in Illinois by population...
, the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, and eventually the far northern suburban sprawl of Chicago. After several years of decline, Lakehurst closed in 2001, and was demolished in 2004.
The beginning
The planning for Lakehurst Mall began with the December 1968 purchase and annexation of 200 acre (0.809372 km²) of farmland into Waukegan, Illinois. This plot of land - purchased from Thomas E. Wilson/Edellyn Farms for $2 million - was located at Illinois Route 120Illinois Route 120
Illinois Route 120 is a major east–west state highway in northeastern Illinois. It runs from U.S. Route 14 near Woodstock to Illinois Route 131 in Waukegan. It travels a distance of and is one of the few roads that provides direct access from McHenry County to Interstate 94 in Lake County...
(Belvedere Road) and Illinois Route 43
Illinois Route 43
Illinois Route 43 is a major north–south state road in the U.S. state of Illinois. It runs from U.S. Route 30 in Frankfort north to the large intersection of Illinois Route 120 and U.S...
(Waukegan Road), close to the busy Tri-State Tollway
Tri-State Tollway
The Tri-State Tollway is a U.S. toll road maintained by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority in northeastern Illinois which is considered one of the most heavily traveled highways in the country...
. The developers' plan was to build a mixed-use (commercial/office/residential) project, named "Lakehurst", on this sprawling site. This plan developed after a five-year research project of Lake County concluded that Lake County would be one of the fastest developing areas of the Midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
. Lakehurst Mall - along with office and residential areas surrounding the mall - would be built to service this new population.
The mall was designed by Sidney H. Morris and Associates of Chicago and Gruen Associates of Los Angeles; Gruen was a well-known name in mall construction, dating from their pioneering 1956 design of Southdale Center
Southdale Center
Southdale Center, commonly known as just Southdale, is a shopping mall in Edina, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, which opened in 1956. It is the United States' oldest fully enclosed, climate-controlled mall...
in Edina, Minnesota
Edina, Minnesota
Edina is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and a first-ring suburb situated immediately southwest of Minneapolis. Edina began as a small farming and milling community in the 1860s. The population was 47,941 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
. Initially, Arthur Rubloff & Co. of Chicago was the management and leasing agent for Lakehurst. Construction on the mall began about one year later, in September 1969.
The new mall was substantially larger than other malls in the area, at 1.1 million square feet (102,000 m²); it included three major department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
s and about 100 smaller stores, some never before seen in the Lakehurst area. The architectural style reflected trends of the time: the Carson Pirie Scott
Carson Pirie Scott
Carson Pirie Scott & Co., known informally as Carson's, is an upscale chain of department stores that have been in business for over 150 years. Their product price points are targeted to the moderate-to-upscale shopper...
anchor was built in alternating stripes of cream- and salmon-colored brick, with complementary red accents and logos, a wild departure from previous store designs; the Wieboldt's
Wieboldt's
Wieboldt Stores, Inc., also known as Wieboldt's, did business as a Chicago general retailer between 1883 and 1986. It was founded in 1883 by storekeeper William A. Wieboldt. The flagship location was located on Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago...
anchor featured arched facades and a gazebo
Gazebo
A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal, that may be built, in parks, gardens, and spacious public areas. Gazebos are freestanding or attached to a garden wall, roofed, and open on all sides; they provide shade, shelter, ornamental features in a landscape, and a place to rest...
; the JC Penney
J.C. Penney
J. C. Penney Company, Inc. is a chain of American mid-range department stores based in Plano, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas. The company operates 1,107 department stores in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. JCPenney also operates catalog sales merchant offices nationwide in many...
anchor was built in the same style of other JC Penney stores of the era and featured "Penney's" signage. The mall included a large center court - dominated by a glittering chrome mobile
Mobile (sculpture)
A mobile is a type of kinetic sculpture constructed to take advantage of the principle of equilibrium. It consists of a number of rods, from which weighted objects or further rods hang. The objects hanging from the rods balance each other, so that the rods remain more or less horizontal...
and a circular fountain - and four wings, each color-coded and designed to lead to an anchor tenant. Each entrance to the mall had a color-coded entrance: green, red, yellow, or blue. (A fourth anchor, believed to be a Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Company
Sears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century...
or Bergner's
Bergner's
Bergner's is a major department store in central and northern Illinois, established in 1889 in Peoria, Illinois, and offering mid-line to higher end merchandise in their largest stores. The current flagship store is located in Peoria at The Shoppes at Grande Prairie.-Beginnings:Bergner's was...
store,was planned to open about five years later at the end of the blue wing, but this never came to pass)
A convenience center, which included the Chicago-native grocery store Jewel-Osco, was added to the original plan, as were over 6,000 parking spaces. To get customers to their destination, the two major roads around the mall were widened and fitted with signs directing traffic to the new mall and to the newly developed area.
The 1970s
The mall, with a sign incorporating an image of a bird flying over a blue background, officially opened on August 19, 1971 with a large celebration, welcoming the new mall to Lake County and the Waukegan area. Over 5,000 people attended the opening day ceremonies, including the mayor of Waukegan. However, skepticism also greeted the mall's opening, based on fears of a negative economic impact on downtown Waukegan shops and the smaller Belvidere Mall. Very few Waukegan-based shops were ever in Lakehurst Mall because of the high operating costs.Red Lobster
Red Lobster is a U.S. chain of seafood restaurants. It also operates in Canada, the UAE and Japan . It is aimed at the mid-level "casual dining" segment of the market...
. An apartment complex with over 200 apartment
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
buildings was completed by the mid-1970s. Access roads were added on the two major roads as well as a multi-level interchange between Route 120 and Route 43.
Special events at the mall were common throughout the 1970s. The center court of the mall was a hot spot, with events such as the Waukegan Auto Show, the Midwest Antique Show, and free public concerts. A team of trampolinists tried (but failed) to set a record for continuous trampoline bouncing in a well-publicized stunt. A monthly newsletter, The Lakehurst News, was created for the mall's merchants' association; it was also included in neighborhood newspapers and acted as the mall's calendar of events.
Problems arose shortly after the mall's opening. Debates began over the annexation of the mall property, with critics arguing over whether the mall was actually in Waukegan or not. The new road improvements also cost more than the original price, sparking additional debates. Despite these problems, the mall reported ever-increasing annual earnings for its first decade, peaking at $134 million in 1981 (the last year the mall reported earnings publicly).
In 1979, the flashy design of Lakehurst was remodeled using a softer, earth-based palette (again reflecting trends of the time). The bright green, yellow, and red colors were replaced by oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
paneling; however, the blue colors - seen as symbolic of the old mall and the logo of Lakehurst Mall - were retained. Two fountain
Fountain
A fountain is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air either to supply drinking water or for decorative or dramatic effect....
s were added to the shopping center, and carpet
Carpet
A carpet is a textile floor covering consisting of an upper layer of "pile" attached to a backing. The pile is generally either made from wool or a manmade fibre such as polypropylene,nylon or polyester and usually consists of twisted tufts which are often heat-treated to maintain their...
was also installed throughout the center court.
The 1980s
The 1980s brought several new stores and a MarriottMarriott International
Marriott International, Inc. is a worldwide operator and franchisor of a broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities. Founded by J. Willard Marriott, the company is now led by son J.W. Marriott, Jr...
hotel to the area. Pier 1 Imports and Service Merchandise
Service Merchandise
Service Merchandise is an online retailer and former retailer chain of catalog showroom stores carrying fine jewelry, toys, sporting goods, and electronics that existed for 68 years...
were built on outparcels. More improvements were undertaken, including the repaving and rebuilding of Lakehurst Road and the parking lots. The older stores were remodeled.
October 1982 brought new management. Jacobs, Visconsi, and Jacobs (a.k.a. the Jacobs Group), a Cleveland, Ohio-based manager of shopping malls, bought the actual mall and the convenience center from Arthur Rubloff. (The anchor properties were owned by their respective department stores.) The JC Penney
J.C. Penney
J. C. Penney Company, Inc. is a chain of American mid-range department stores based in Plano, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas. The company operates 1,107 department stores in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. JCPenney also operates catalog sales merchant offices nationwide in many...
Auto Shop closed in 1983 at part of a national decision by JC Penney to leave the auto repair business. Additionally, the Globe Company - a local Lake County company, founded in 1898 - went bankrupt and closed their Lakehurst Mall store in 1985.
In August 1986, the Wieboldt's
Wieboldt's
Wieboldt Stores, Inc., also known as Wieboldt's, did business as a Chicago general retailer between 1883 and 1986. It was founded in 1883 by storekeeper William A. Wieboldt. The flagship location was located on Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago...
anchor went out of business, prior to the eventual closure of the entire chain. Wieboldt's management blamed the closure on the extensive distance between this store and their Chicago distribution hub, which incurred substantial expenses. The company sold their location to the Jacobs Group. The location being vacant came as a blessing when 1986 brought floods to Gurnee, Illinois
Gurnee, Illinois
Gurnee is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 28,834 at the 2000 census, and estimated to be 30,772 in 2005. The village borders the city of Waukegan and is considered a part of the Chicago metropolitan area. Gurnee is perhaps best known for being the location of...
, severely damaging two of the city's three elementary schools. Students in kindergarten through fourth grade were housed in the sole undamaged elementary school, while more than 600 fifth through eighth grade students were housed in the old Wieboldt's space. The space was informally known as "Wieboldt U" during that time, and the former store's shelving units were used for school storage.
After the school was renovated and the "Wieboldt U" students left, Dunham's Sports
Dunham's Sports
Dunham's Sports is a regional sporting goods superstore chain owned by Dunham's Athleisure Corporation, with stores located in the Midwestern United States. The chain specializes in athletic equipment, clothing, and other sports-related items...
became an anchor on the lower level; several months later, Montgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward is an online retailer that carries the same name as the former American department store chain, founded as the world's #1 mail order business in 1872 by Aaron Montgomery Ward, and which went out of business in 2001...
moved into the upper level and built a new auto service center on an outparcel. The Montgomery Ward store had previously been located in the Belvidere Mall
Belvidere Mall
Belvidere Mall is a small shopping mall located in Waukegan, Illinois, United States. It was one of the first shopping malls in the Chicago metropolitan area, and the first enclosed mall in Lake County. Its current main anchor store is a Home Depot...
a few miles down Route 120. With the major anchor at Belvidere Mall gone, most thought that Belvidere Mall would close soon. It turned out that Lakehurst would close before Belvidere would.
The 1990s and 2000s
On August 8, 1991, Gurnee MillsGurnee Mills
Gurnee Mills is an indoor mall, established in Gurnee, Illinois. It's located about halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a 40 minute drive either way, and near Six Flags Great America. It is a single-level Z-shaped mall. At of gross leasable area, it is the fourth largest mall in...
opened seven miles (11 km) away from Lakehurst. The newer, larger Gurnee Mills proved a much larger draw than expected, devastating Lakehurst's retail base.
The decade began in promising fashion, with 100 tenants still leasing. But by 1997, about fifty businesses remained in the mall, with the number decreasing by the month. In early 1998, both Montgomery Ward and JCPenney pulled out of Lakehurst, leaving Carson Pirie Scott
Carson Pirie Scott
Carson Pirie Scott & Co., known informally as Carson's, is an upscale chain of department stores that have been in business for over 150 years. Their product price points are targeted to the moderate-to-upscale shopper...
as the sole anchor. The Jacobs Group sold Lakehurst in the summer of 1998; the price was $30 million, a little less than that of the sale price in 1982.
Fewer than five tenants remained by 2000. These included the Gift Tree and Barbary Coast stores in the mall, as well as the Carson Pirie Scott anchor. When the leases on the two mall stores ended on January 31, 2001, the mall was shuttered and, with only Carson's still in operation, the "Lakehurst era" ended. During the mall's final days, a portion of the upcoming film "'77" was filmed inside the former KB Toys building.
Demolition
Demolition
Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....
of the mall began in 2003, when ownership officially changed from the Jacobs Group to the Shaw Company of Oak Brook, Illinois. The demolition began in November 2003, near the JCPenney store.
Despite this, Carson's stayed open for the Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
season and closed on January 15, 2004. The JCPenney section of the mall was demolished in February 2004, the Wieboldt's/Montgomery Ward section was next, and the Carson's section was the last to be razed. The gazebo of the Wieboldts anchor outlasted the anchor, but was removed just after the Carson's anchor was razed.
External links
- DeadMalls.com on Lakehurst Mall
- LakehurstMall.net - Tribute Site
- Illinois' Dead Mall - History Site
- The Shaw Company