# Old Chicago

Bolingbrook, IL · mall · tier: draft · Retrofit Atlas record `m-db19435ebf` · release 2026-10-21

Canonical: https://retrofitatlas.org/malls/il/bolingbrook-old-chicago/  
JSON: https://retrofitatlas.org/data/records/m-db19435ebf.json · Provenance: https://retrofitatlas.org/data/records/m-db19435ebf.provenance.json · API: https://retrofitatlas.org/api/v1/sites/m-db19435ebf

## Facts

| Field | Value | Provenance |
|---|---|---|
| Status | demolished | documented · model extraction, unreviewed |
| What is there now | former Old Chicago mega mall site | documented · model extraction, unreviewed |
| Opened | 1975 | documented · model extraction, unreviewed |
| Closed | 1981 | documented · model extraction, unreviewed |

## Quoted support

- **year_opened**: “Old Chicago was opened to the public on June 17, 1975, in a grand opening party that attracted over 10,000 invited guests.” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Chicago
- **year_closed**: “The plan didn't attract investors and the mall closed in August 1981.” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Chicago
- **after_notes**: “On January 21, 2020, Amazon paid $50.5 million for the former Old Chicago mega mall site.” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Chicago
- **status**: “the building was demolished in the spring of 1986.” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Chicago
- **enclosed**: “Old Chicago was a combination shopping mall and indoor amusement park” — extraction-deep:nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b
- **demolition_year**: “the structure was demolished in the spring of 1986.” — extraction-deep:nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b

## Parties

- Illinois Central Railroad — owner (from text) (1977–)
- Group of investors — owner (from text) (1981–)
- C.L. Carr — owner (from text) (1985–)

## Timeline

- 1975: Opened
- 1977: Illinois Central took control
- 1980: Amusement park shut down
- 1981: Mall closed
- 1982: Building put up for auction
- 1985: Sold to C.L. Carr
- 1986: Demolished
- 2020: Amazon purchased site

## Background (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, shortened)

Old Chicago was a combination shopping mall and indoor amusement park that existed in the southwest Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook, Illinois from 1975 until 1980. It was billed as "The world's first indoor amusement park", and it was intended to draw visitors all year round, rain or shine. It opened to great fanfare and over 15,000 visitors on June 17, 1975, with an enormous building that housed major rides, such as three roller coasters and a Ferris wheel, as well as a turn-of-the-century-themed shopping mall with design reminiscent of the architecture of Louis Sullivan, such as his work for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. However, only six months after opening, the complex ran into financial troubles due to construction cost overruns. The opening of a competing amusement park in Chicago's north suburbs hurt attendance, and the lack of large anchor stores failed to draw enough local and repeat shoppers. Despite management changes, the center continued to lose money. By 1978, the mall began closing on Mondays and Tuesdays, and in early 1980 the entire amusement park shut down and the rides were sold, only five years after opening. Efforts to find alternative uses for the huge building failed, and the structure was demolished in the spring of 1986.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Chicago

## Sources

- Quoted support for year_opened — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Chicago

## Cite

Retrofit Atlas (2026). "Old Chicago, Bolingbrook, IL." Record m-db19435ebf, release 2026-10-21, tier draft. https://retrofitatlas.org/malls/il/bolingbrook-old-chicago/ (accessed 2026-10-21).

```bibtex
@misc{retrofitatlas_bolingbrookoldchicago,
  title = {Old Chicago, Bolingbrook, IL},
  author = {{Retrofit Atlas}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://retrofitatlas.org/malls/il/bolingbrook-old-chicago/}},
  year = {2026},
  note = {Record m-db19435ebf, release 2026-10-21, tier: draft. Built on the Retrofitting Suburbia map (Dunham-Jones and Williamson) and the sources listed on the record. Accessed 2026-10-21}
}
```

Licence: research use only; terms undecided with the authors (https://retrofitatlas.org/licence/). Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0. Tiers: curated = from the authors' public map, not reviewed by them; draft = imported or model-extracted, unreviewed.