Posted March 10, 201015 yr If any of you are familiar with the 1980's movie Blues Brothers, you'd remember the scene where they drive through a shopping mall to evade the police. That mall does in fact exist in the Chicago area, in the struggling suburb of Harvey.....and it's been empty since. Opened in 1966, and closed in 1978, the majority of this mall's life has been in deterioration. It has been destined for demolition despite many attempts to renovate it. But the reason I post this thread now is because the mall has switched hands of developers who would like to demolish it this March for a new shopping mall. My photos are out of date. These were obtained two years ago and deterioration has ramped up exponentially. 2% of the second floor of the old JC Penney was collapsed around the same time these were taken. Today people report nearly 50-60% of it has collapsed. A fire early this year did quite a bit of damage to one of the entrances, and the roof is coming down in a few of the stores along the concourse. The overall building structure is in such rough shape, renovation seems out of the question at this point.....not that I'm advocating for renovation instead of a full rebuild, but I do think it is interesting the mall has hung around vacant for so long. If the walls could talk, there would be plenty of stories to tell. Much of the floor in this photo has collapsed to this date 2nd floor of the former Penney's. That back corner has collapsed I bet it still works better than our subway station escalators!!
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