Car-chase mall from ‘Blues Brothers’ now a wreck, but it was all fake then, and it’s been gone for years

Editor’s note: The story was originally published on June 23, 2005, as part of a weeklong series to commemorate the 25th anniversary of “The Blues Brothers.” The Sun-Times is republishing the stories to mark the 40th anniversary of the movie in 2020.

The massive, hulking structure has wasted away for more than a quarter century. What was once a vibrant shopping mecca in Harvey has turned into an economic and social crater on the edge of this south suburban city. The same mall Jake and Elwood Blues raced through in “The Blues Brothers” — one of the most famous chase scenes in movie history — now looks like something from a war zone.

Only recently the suburb announced major plans to demolish the 58-acre site and redevelop it as a shopping center, but residents still wonder if the plan will really go through this time.

They have good reason to worry. The parking lot is choked with weeds and car-sized potholes. Inside, the smell of mold and rotting garbage — dumped illegally over the years — is staggering. The interior of the nearly 800,000- square-foot building has been stripped bare of everything valuable: There are no lights, no fixtures, no windows and only a few ceiling tiles. Twisted steel rails and electrical casings hang from the ceiling like tree branches.

In some areas, the roof has caved in and a virtual indoor urban jungle has sprouted below.

Stocked with merchandise

Some of the few recognizable elements are actually stage dressing left by Universal Studios in 1979. The mall had closed a year earlier after just 13 years in operation.

Filmmakers stocked the stores with “hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise,” recalls Jean Alan, a Chicago set decorator for the movie. They built 30 elaborate storefronts for Jake and Elwood to drive through, featuring Chicago businesses like R.J. Grunt’s and Banana Moon, a children’s clothing store. In the days before product placements, Alan had to beg stores to be included.

They paid $12,500 for the right to film inside, according to a contract from the time. They stocked the parking lots with 700 cars — all new.

Now, a painted Toys R Us sign — a business that wasn’t even in the mall when it was open — is the only remaining complete sign. The outline of “Burt’s Shoes,” in front of which an Illinois State Police car flips over in the movie, can be seen. Scores of floor tiles — installed by the studio and driven over by the Bluesmobile — are scattered about.

It was during the three days of shooting at the mall that Belushi wandered off the set, knocked on a stranger’s door, asked for something to eat and passed out on a couch. “He was America’s guest,” Dan Aykroyd said.

Scott Stewart/Sun-Times

Home to rats, wild dogs

Packs of wild dogs have made their home here over the years, as have thousands of rats, and even the homeless. A ripped mattress with some bedding sits next to a teddy bear and large toy car, indications that a family might have recently slept here.

Even more disturbing is a makeshift wooden cross, left where a 25-year-old woman was murdered in 1993 near a JCPenney store. That’s the same store the Bluesmobile ripped through on its way out of the mall.

Since the filming, Harvey’s plight has only gotten worse. Its per capita income in 1999 was just $12,336. Unemployment is 9.4 percent, almost twice the state’s 5.7 percent average.

Even as it has symbolized Harvey’s failures, the mall has gained an international following on the Internet, fueled by Blues Brothers fans on the one hand and aficionados of “dead malls” on the other. Scores of photos of its dismal-looking inside are posted online.

Residents wish the shopping center could have attracted such loyalty when it was in operation.

For a while after it opened in 1966 during a mall building boom, though, residents remember a thriving place.

“It used to be real nice,” said Willie Lewis, 54, a Harvey construction worker who can see the mall from his garage. It featured more than 60 stores at one point.

“This place has got everything,” Jake, played by John Belushi, quips as he and Elwood drive right through it.

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‘Doomed from the start’

But Paul Mcvay, who is filming a documentary on the mall, said a lack of store variety or even a movie theater might have “doomed it from the start.” The fact that the developer later opened a competing mall in a nearby suburb also didn’t help its chances, said Mcvay, 32, of Coal City.

As crime rose in the city, fear played a part in keeping shoppers away, said Carl Durnavich, a resident for 33 years who runs an online forum on Harvey. In 1973 a 13-year-old girl was strangled after being dropped off at the mall. Theft from stores was always an issue: Even guards hired to watch the movie set were caught stealing merchandise, according to a police report from the time.

‘An embarrassment’

Over the past 25 years, many plans for the mall have surfaced — from a baseball stadium for the White Sox to a 157,000-crypt mausoleum — but none have taken root. Often, political feuding between the mayor and city council blocked plans. “It’s been an embarrassment,” said Durnavich.

Earlier this year, officials announced they had secured federal grants to build senior housing on a portion of the parking lot. And in April, the city council voted to transfer title for the property to Chicago developer John Deneen. Deneen is securing and cleaning up the property, which is “loaded with asbestos,” he said. So far, four potential tenants have signed contracts, although he declined to name them. He hopes to have a shopping center built within two to three years.

But until the old mall building is gone, residents remain skeptical. “If it does open, it ain’t going to stay open long,” said Cephor Morris, 85, who lives across the street.