DIXIE SQUARE II - 3/14/09

[skinnyshit8888]

I WOULD RENNOVATE THE SHIT OUT OF THAT AND MAKE IT MY OWN MALL

[steak98]

@skinnyshit8888 You can polish a turd but its still a piece shit..

[skinnyshit8888]

@steak98 mmmmmmmmm steak.

[nelandquinten]

man the blues brothers really caused some damage

[radudeATL]

They don't build ruins like this anymore...

[fontzepontze]

You don't find the music a little melodramatic for a fallen MALL? 

[setoguchifan16]

Where was the Thom McAn sign?

[Chriscubsfan]

were u the only one????????



[MissMaddy881]

so where is jcpenney here?

[Interests2009]

Great video

[degaik]

can you make a video of the safe upstairs?

[EARLYKINGJAMES]

YO MR. REV...THAT'S A NICE VID... GOT ANY PLANS TO FILM SUM MORE?

[HattieLovesCattie]

Geez,that old can of Schiltz beer.I called it Shitz as it was my Dad's favorite damn beer.The city really should just bulldoze this down,its such a eyesore.Its ridiculous.

[p3charm78]

I remember when I was a baby, my last memory of this mall is when I looked around and notice the white and lite blue colors thru out the mall. Sunshine thru the top of the mall allowing the colors in the mall to shine. It breaks my heart to see this town go down hill. Not enough residents in this town has the desire to rebuild this once beautiful town. :(

[Falcone45]

Hey, I feel the same way about malls in Columbus, Ohio, back in my home state. The city is allrigh,t but the malls are dying, and Columbus has more people than Cleveland! I'm just scared that the dying mall crisis had to start before the housing crisis, which is ironic and very sad.

[TheStaceeAdams]

I can't believe it look this bad!

[KidIcarus55]

Any Ghosts

[arienshadow]

This is an amazing video of the mall. Thank you for sharing it.

[Hanssen69]

God that is a sad video.

[BearKlaw]

This is one of my favorite dixie square mall videos. I would only prefer the nine inch nails version of hurt for this video.

[spahnranch69]

Thanks for the info, TJmangum. I wondered why that mall closed so quickly after it opened. If it had been built in a better location, it might have survived to this day, albeit in some different form.

[NightAire]

Thank you so much for continuing to go back. While I don't want anybody hurt, I get so hungry for updates on Dixie's decay. It just amazes me, & though I've never been there, through pics & videos like this, it feels like visiting an old friend. Am I right that we're back to the city owning it & ignoring it while it rots?

[vargas37]

how did you not get messed with by the police?

[jonrev]

They have seemed to lose interest in the place ever since Harvey sold it.

[233268]

the city tried to do so much with this mall after it closed but they decides to leave it alone i think the only reason they did asbestos removal is because they knew people would be going in i just dont like the people who go in there and destroy what was once probaly a great mall back in the day

[tjmangum]

Dixie Square died for a variety of reasons. This was a very blue collar, working class town just south of Chicago, with a good deal of the local jobs based upon steel manufactoring or processing. These jobs started to fade away in the early 70's. Newer regional malls opened which drew shoppers elsewhere and the demographics changed very quickly in Harvey, by what some might call "white flight" to further outlying suburbs. I believe Dixie Square was pretty much closed down by the mid 70's.

[Rcrby525]

it closed to the public in 1977

[67tr876]

no it was 79

[jonrev]

Officially: 78. Jewel was still open into 79.

[bIancoitaliano]

Yo, I just got word that some scenes of "Candyman" was filmed there. Some parts were substituted for the Cabrini Green Housing Project. Like the graffiti art on the walls.

[jonrev]

Source?

[MrAirbuster57]

@bIancoitaliano whats it about?

[bIancoitaliano]

@MrAirbuster57 the 1992 movie about the guy with a hook for a hand.

[ihatetaft]

Good video..great song! Goes great with the video.

[bIancoitaliano]

You have balls of steel!!! I would never go in a place like this. I think I seen this mall in "Terminator Salvation."....LOL!!!!

[jonrev]

The only movie it appeared in was The Blues Brothers, but you could easily shoot a zombie or apocalyptic movie here.

[viyau]

surprisingly clean for being abandonned 30 years.

[ekim7971]

great vid this is so depressing thinking about all the people that used to go there this is happening everywhere there 2 malls by were i live and there slowly fading away most of the malls are empty its all because of fucking wall mart i can bet 10 yrs from now there going to be abandoned its sad

[modspell]

Malls are inefficient and cost a fortune to heat, cool and insure. They are dinosaurs. I like them too, but they are not dying because of Walmart.

[jonrev]

This one died LONG before Walmart became the giant it is now. Crime mostly is what killed Dixie.

[cwf1701]

This Mall died in the big heyday of K-Mart. When DSM closed, Wal-mart was still known as a Southeast retailer (often going in where there was no K-Mart for 25 Miles)

[Rcrby525]

then, in the 80's-early 90's, allmart EXPLODED into a giant franchise it is now

no joke, almost every town has a wallmart in it, and if that doesn't go a few miles down the road, BOOM, walmart in the other town!

[dubzJ]

i heard a guy say the malls are dying in part because we are not as affluent as we used to be

[modspell]

You 'heard a guy'? Don't you live here too? Malls cost the retailers too much, and they can't lower prices like a big box chain store can.

[Rcrby525]

almost 60% of the american population shops online.

[C3Nostalgia]

So the Thom McAn Sign was there in January, but was gone in March? Any ideas what could have happened to it?

[jonrev]

It's likely someone nabbed it for scrap, but because the facade is still standing it may indicate that some care was taken during its removal.

[thelostduck]

What's the story behind this place?

[jonrev]

Opened 1966, closed 1977 due to Harvey's skyrocketing crime rate, trashed by cop cars in The Blues Brothers movie in 1979, then abandoned.

[PampersPete]

Once again,Jon,excellent video. Maybe if DSM is still standing in a year or two,I'll get to see it. Once I find work,I'll be saving up to move back to ILL/WI.

[whatihave2do]

Great video. Johnny Cash rules. Did you see anything left behind from filming the movie? Marks on the floor? How can they let something sit like that for 30 years. But it gives people like me that have a thing for abandoned places something to look at.

[jonrev]

Thanks. There were no tiremarks spotted, but we were finding some of the red banners that were hanging from the cieling (torched by kids of course). Burt's Shoes is visible several times in the movie as well.

[Rx985]

Terrific video! Thanks again for showing us the great pics and video footage!