Machesney Park Mall facts for kids
| Location | Machesney Park, Illinois, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 42°21′02″N 89°03′11″W / 42.350425°N 89.052966°W |
| Address | 8750 North Second Street (Illinois Route 251) |
| Opening date | 1978 |
| Closing date | 2003 |
| Developer | Melvin Simon and Associates |
| Owner | Rubloff Development Group, Inc. |
| No. of anchor tenants | 0 (4 at peak) |
| Total retail floor area | 229,988 square feet (21,366.6 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 |
Machesney Park Mall was a shopping center located in Machesney Park, Illinois. This village is part of the larger Rockford, Illinois area. The mall opened in 1978. Over time, it became less popular and many stores closed. Eventually, the main indoor part of the mall shut down. Some areas were changed into new retail spaces. Large sections of the mall were even turned into two separate stores, Burlington Coat Factory and Big Lots. This was an effort to change the mall into a different kind of shopping area.
A Look Back: The Mall's History
The Machesney Park Mall was built on land that used to be Machesney Airport. The airport closed in 1974. A company called Melvin Simon and Associates, which is now Simon Property Group, built the mall. It first opened its doors in 1978.
When it first opened, the mall had four main anchor stores. These were JCPenney, Prange's, and Prange Way. Soon after, Kohl's was added as the fourth big store. In 1990, the Prange Way store at the mall closed down.
What Stores Were There?
The first big stores at Machesney Park Mall included JCPenney and H.C. Prange. Prange's later became Younkers, and then Bergner's. Prange Way was another original store, which later changed into Phar-Mor. Kohl's joined the mall in the 1980s.
In September 2009, a Burlington Coat Factory store opened inside the mall. Even though JCPenney announced it would close many of its outlet stores, the Machesney Park JCPenney stayed open until 2012. Later, on October 11, 2016, the company that owned Bergner's announced that the Bergner's store would close on January 31, 2017.
New Life: Changes and Renovations
In December 2003, a company called Rubloff Development Group bought the mall. Since then, the inside of the mall has been changed a lot. This was done to get it ready for new businesses.
For example, in late 2013, a medical software company called Practice Velocity moved into the space where Kohl's used to be. Then, on July 18, 2018, it was announced that PCI Pharma Services would move into the empty JCPenney store. These changes helped bring new life to the old mall building.
