Lakehurst Mall in Waukegan holds rich history

Many architectural historians agree that the leap from Main Street to planned shopping center occurred in 1916, when Market Square in Lake Forest was conceived. There would be nothing quite so revolutionizing again for shoppers in Lake County until 1971 when Lakehurst Mall opened in Waukegan.

Lakehurst was the first major regional shopping center in the county. It was a sprawling 1.1 million square-foot complex, housing three department store anchors and 100 retail shops. Lakehurst was a joint venture of Carson Pirie Scott & Company, Wieboldt Stores, Inc. and Arthur Rubloff & Co. According to their development brochure, the new mall was "smartly designed - in a setting created to make every visit to Lakehurst an exciting experience."

Opened on Aug. 19, 1971, Waukegan Mayor Robert Sabonjian, Miss America and Miss Illinois were given the honor of pulling a lever to unfurl a large Lakehurst flag with the iconic seagull logo, simultaneously illuminating the silver mobile sculpture suspended from the ceiling. The mobile was the centerpiece of the mall and was specially designed for $20,000 by Joseph McDonald of New York.

Lakehurst saw steady growth in its first decade, with the opening of Lakehurst Cinemas in 1974, followed by restaurants outside the mall, and an apartment complex.

The 200-acre planned development was not without controversy. The site consisted of beautiful oak groves and farmland, and was designated as one of the 10 original sites for possible purchase by the Lake County Forest Preserve District. The will and the funding for the open space acquisition never became a reality and the site was purchased by a developer. The legality of the annexation of the property into Waukegan was debated for years, while small business owners in downtown Waukegan were concerned that the mall would draw shoppers away from their stores.

Eventually, Lakehurst fell victim to a bigger fish: Gurnee Mills. Although the Mills' developers believed that the two malls would create a "shopping synergy," within two years of Gurnee Mills opening in 1991, Lakehurst's sales began to drop. By 1997, the number of retailers at Lakehurst had hit an all-time low with just 50 percent of the spaces leased. On Jan. 30, 2001, the two last remaining tenants, the Gift Tree and Barbary Coast salon, closed their doors.

Part mall owner, Carson Pirie Scott, became the last holdout. It remained opened as a stand-alone unit until January, 2004. The mall was demolished between 2003-04 and the site has been redeveloped as Fountain Square, anchored by Walmart.