With Builders Square coming to the Belvedere Mall, The old Montgomery Ward building was torn down. Replacing it was a Box type store. It was so large, it was built to an angle from the original mall to fit the property for the size of the building and the fenced in areas. The side entrance to the mall was removed, no entrance to the mall. The new store was branded Builders Square but when this franchise left the state a few years later, Home Depot moved in and are still there.

The West end of Belvidere Mall had another store that may or may not be considered an anchor. It was a grocery store and had a private entrance from the Mall hallway as well as their own outside doors. This Grocery store was there for many years before closing.

Calling Waukegans leaders “CORRUPT” is such a mean word, why don’t we call them “politicians”. The two terms are synonomous, aren’t they? Besides, they were all voted back in so people must like spending all their tax money with no referendums.

Spending millions to rebuild downtown Waukegan, the Genesee Theater and the various out buidlings and garages with unmagineable amounts of money for inlaid brick sidewalks, as well as the cities plans to build very expensive condos in place of businesses. All this under the guise of restoring the retail base of old downtown Waukegan.

Come visit Waukegan so you can see the Condos(after they are built) and don’t forget to visit some our down town bars. Don’t forget your coins for the parking meters. Hmmm, free parking at the Mall.

Current downtown plans are posted on the interent, you should look at them and see for yourself what will be replacing any (now gone) manufacturing business.

As the South side of Waukegan downtown would be considered a declining urban area, I see the downtown area as an office/school/bar/city offices area with little for the family. Malls like Belvidere Mall and Gurnee Mills, and Vernon Hills will always offer more to the customer in a safe shopping atmosphere.

I see the Belvidere Mall Movie Theater sign is now gone so the theater must be long gone as well. And the Store space where the Grocery was is now a car part store. The private entrance to the mall has been closed off permanently.

The BM seems primarily servicing Hispanic customers, makes sense since the area residents is primarily Hispanic.

And yes, the Lakehurst Mall is now long gone. Original thoughts were the mall had to go to clear land for Waukegans Casino, no referendum.
About the time I heard Waukegan had lost the bid for a casino, I saw a sign go up for Fountain Square and LakeHurst Mall came down.

Food for thought, Fountain Square is the box stores and strip malls and a few motels where LakeHurst used to stand. There is a suspicious open land space left at the South West corner of the Fountain Square Property. With a substantial bid for a casino, can this space be waiting to build a casino at the old Lakehurst site? And WHO is gonna pay for it? Bet you can guess!

Stay tuned in boys and girls and keep your ears open to learn what happens next.

Hang in there, Belvidere Mall, I miss Lakehurst too.

c

That little quote by Imperial’s page is rather strange…everything, from the 60s entranceway, to the horrible roof, to the odd tile, to the theater…it’s all original. What “extensive renovations”?

Waukegan was hard hit when heavy industry left the area. Downtown is still a ghost town. Belvidere and Lakehurst were the main retail areas. Gurnee has stolen the retail life out of Waukegan. The city has seen modest growth from suburban sprawl and an increasing Hispanic population.

Elgin sits on the Fox River 20 miles northwest of Chicago. I-90 (Northwest Tollway) runs north of the city. Elgin has a modest downtown and has a more residential feel rather than industrial. It also has a casino. The city adopted an ordinance to keep out large scale shopping centers within the city limits. Spring Hill Mall was built in nearby West Dundee and siphined away Elgin’s downtown businesses. Randall Road on the westside is becoming to new retail center of the area. Spring Hill is still going strong. Elgin has a large Hispanic population east of downtown

Aurora, also on the Fox River, is 30 miles west of Chicago. I-88
(East/West Tollway or the Reagan) runs to the north. Downtown in the 1980’s and 1990’s was vacant, except the casino. Crime was rampant. Most retail was centered by the Fox Valley located on IL 59 and New York Ave. Only businesses located west of 59 were in Aurora, everything east is in Naperville (the super sprawler of duPage Co.) This has led to some rather nasty spats, esp. over the White Eagle sudivision in the late ’80s (Aurora stopped water and garbage collection to the subdivision). Downtown is now mom and pop shops. IL 59 is a long commerical strip from I-88 to US 52 in Joilet. Aurora is divided into west (sprawl and nicely kept older neighborhoods), near east (mostly older neighborhoods of various upkeep, area in mostly black and Hispanic), and far east(newer subdivisions and Fox Valley). Aurora has a new outlet mall, Chicago Premium Outlets.

Joliet is the oldest and most interesting. It is 35 miles southwest of Chicago on the Des Plaines River. I-55 (the Stevenson) run west of town and I-80 (no nickname, just 80) runs through downtown. Joliet, Plainfield, Romeoville, Bolingbrook, Lockport, and New Lenox comprise the fastest growing area in Illinois. I-355 (North/South Tollway) was just expanded from I-55 to I-80 along the Joliet/New Lenox border. The 70’s and 80’s were very rough times with a Rust Belt economy as the area remains home to many heavy industries. Approval of IL first riverboat casino started to turnaround. Joliet built 2 malls; Jefferson Square on US 52 was built near downtown in 1975, Louis Joilet was built in 1978 at US 30 and I-55. Joliet’s east side is urban blight. Gangs and drugs rule this area. Downtown is mostly laywers and county government offices. Downtown and the near west side is in a slow decline. The area has become more Hispanic, leading to white flight. Jefferson Square empited out the late 80’s and closed for good with the death of Montgomery Wards. The Jefferson Ave corridor is filled with empty storefronts. From Larkin Ave west is new suburban srawl, accounting for all of Joliet’s growth. Louis Joilet is the main mall in the area, but IL 59 to the far west has most of the big box shopping centers. Joliet’s east and west sides are two different cities.

Gary is dead and buried. It recently has the highest murder rate in the country. Nothing but a casino remains.