They're on a mission: 'The Blues Brothers' famed Dixie Square mall coming down

HARVEY | The Dixie Square shopping center is getting a new life with demolition crews on the site Wednesday tearing it down to make way for a mixed-use development meant to attract visitors to the south suburbs.

Government officials, including Gov. Pat Quinn and aides to Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., were on hand Wednesday for ceremonies meant to mark the beginning of demolition of the one-time shopping mall that for the past one-third of a century has sat vacant.

Officials say they hope to redevelop the site at 150th Street on Dixie Highway made famous as the site of a car chase scene in "The Blues Brothers" film. They hope to turn it into a combination of retail housing that would feed off potential future development projects meant to improve the quality of life across the south suburbs.

They said allowing the structure to sit for decades was a blight on the south suburb's image.

"'The Blues Brothers' made us very famous, but it left us with an eyesore that truly was a 'white elephant' for the area," Mayor Eric Kellogg said.

Quinn agreed, saying he remembers shopping at the Dixie Square mall when he still lived on Chicago's South Side.

"I was one of those people who came here way back when, but we have to be going forward," he said, adding that the demolition itself, "will put people to work."

Quinn said 42 jobs would be created to demolish the old mall, contains asbestos that must be removed.

Financing challenges are to blame for the mall sitting vacant since its closure in 1979. An effort a decade ago to get federal funds for the demolition failed due to political squabbles.

But Jackson was able to get federal disaster recovery funds for flood relief projects for Harvey, and that money will be used to pay for the demolition.

State Rep. Al Riley, D-Olympia Fields, said he was pleased the demolition is finally beginning because it means officials can work toward "great grandiose plans" to turn the site into a mixed-use development.

Riley said he doesn't want to think about "The Blues Brothers" any longer.

"For me, I will never talk about the movie again," he said. "It left nothing here."