RANDHURST CENTER
Rand and Elmhurst Roads
Village of Mount Prospect, Illinois

The eleventh retail center project of master mall architect Victor Gruen was envisaged in February 1957. In the following year, Chicago's Carson Pirie Scott department store chain purchased the Burmeister Farm, which was located 22 miles northwest of The Loop.

In July 1959, two additional Chi-Town retailers joined with Carson's to form the Randhurst Corporation. The idea was to build the nation's largest, fully-enclosed and air-conditioned shopping center, which would be the first to feature three major department stores. Construction commenced in June 1960.

RANDHURST CENTER would occupy 100 acres. The 1,200,000 square foot complex was to be anchored by a 2-level (198,400 square foot) Wieboldt's [11th store in the chain], 3-level (200,000 square foot) Carson Pirie Scott [28th in the chain] and a 3-level (154,000 square foot) The Fair [5th in the chain]. There would also be an S.S. Kresge 5 & 10 and Jewel supermarket.

Gruen's design for RANDHURST was based on an equilateral triangle, with an anchor store at each apex. Inside the triangle was a 3-level Galleria with an an enormous dome at its center; this supported by six steel columns. Anchored to these was a "floating platform" Pavilion Level, with restaurant, coffee shop and cocktail lounge.

Beneath this was a Bazaar Level of seven boutiques. The Concourse Level, below the Galleria area, included public restrooms, meeting rooms, a 300-person Town Hall auditorium, barber and beauty shops, mall offices and the Tartan Tray Cafeteria. Around the dome, along the roof line, was a row of clerestory windows, with an inner ring of stained glass windows of various shapes. These directed beams of colored light into the Galleria of the mall.

The shopping hub's Mall Level housed forty-one inline tenant spaces, along with the main levels of the three anchor department stores. There were also five kiosk retailers. A Professional Terrace, overlooking the Mall Level corridors, had nine office suites. Gruen himself oversaw the acquisition of over 100,000 dollars worth of sculpture to grace the interior spaces. Moreover, the Galleria and adjacent department store court areas were lavishly appointed with fountains and tropical plants.

The center was serviced by a twin-lane, subterranean freight tunnel, following the lines of the triangle, which would also serve as a fallout shelter in case of a nuclear holocaust. A state-of-the-art monitoring system kept tabs on what was going on at the mall. A huge electronic display board had one hundred positions of flashing lights. If anything went awry, an automated typewriter printed out messages describing the problem and indicating its location.

RANDHURST CENTER was dedicated on August 16, 1962, with sixty-two stores and services. In keeping with the times, there was a tremendous amount of fanfare and media hoopla. Opening festivities included a parade, the release of balloons and several cannon blasts.

The first anchor store change at RANDHURST occurred November 7, 1963, when Montgomery Ward rebranded The Fair. On September 16, 1971, Montgomery Ward dedicated a 60,000 square foot expansion of their store, which now encompassed 214,000 square feet. Meanwhile, the General Cinema Corporation Randhurst Cinema, a freestanding structure adjacent to the mall's northeast parking area, had opened for business on July 23, 1965.

By the mid-1970s, the complex had adopted the official name RANDHURST MALL. 1974 brought the completion of the Randhurst Ice Arena, which was built as a southeast outparcel. The Arena served as a temporary home for the World Hockey Association Chicago Cougars (1972-1975). It, the adjacent Wards Auto Center, and a Child World toy store, would be replaced by a Home Depot in the mid-1990s.

An interior face lift was done in 1977, with white terrazzo flooring, new lighting and ceilings installed. In July 1981, Maryland's James Rouse Company assumed management of the property, which was owned by the Morgan Guarantee Trust Company of New York. The Rouse Company completed a second renovation in October 1984, which included the installation of the 13-bay Picnic Food Court on the Upper Level (or Professional Terrace) of Center Court.

In 1987, a second phase of alternating anchor stores got underway; Wieboldt's was acquired by Peoria-based Bergner's, with the RANDHURST store being rebranded on August 7, 1988. Two newly-built junior anchors were also added to the mall at this time. A 1-level (60,000 square foot), Bonnockburn-based MainStreet opened in November 1987, which was rebranded by Kohl's in March 1989. Elgin-based Joseph Spiess Company dedicated its 1-level (70,000 square foot) location in March 1988.

In 1990, Carson Pirie Scott took up shop in a vacant Wieboldt's / Bergner's. The original Carson's re-opened, as a J.C. Penney, in the Fall of 1990. Joseph Spiess closed in late 1991 and re-opened as a short-lived Wickes Furniture. This store was shuttered and subdivided into Circuit City and Old Navy stores, which opened in 1995.

The Randhurst Cinema had been divided into 4-plex in 1983. A new venue, the General Cinema Corporation Randhurst Cinema 16, was built as a northwest outparcel. It showed its first features on November 22, 1996. The original theater was razed and replaced by a 1-level (85,200 square foot) Jewel / Osco supermarket and pharmacy.

Around this time, RANDHURST MALL began to feel the crunch of competing shopping centers. WOODFIELD MALL (1971) {5.4 miles southwest, in Schaumburg} completed a major expansion in 1996. There were also OLD ORCHARD CENTER (1956) {9.3 miles southeast, in Skokie}, GOLF MILL CENTER (1960) {5.2 miles southeast, in Niles} and NORTHBROOK COURT (1976) {7.2 miles northeast, in Northbrook}.

DEER PARK TOWN CENTER {7.9 miles northwest, in Deer Park} was dedicated in the year 2000. This complex drew away even more business from RANDHURST. To add insult to injury, the shopping hub lost three anchors in the early 2000s; Ward's (March 2001), J.C. Penney (May 2001) and Kohl's (September 2003).

A large-scale renovation was completed soon after. The vacant Carson's / Penney's and Kohl's were razed and replaced by a 1-level (151,400 square foot) Costco, which held its grand opening October 13, 2004. Moreover, the old The Fair / Montgomery Ward was partially demolished and a new "Promenade Entrance" built in its vicinity. The mall now housed over 100 stores and services.

The Circuit City and Old Navy stores went dark in 2005. Bed, Bath & Beyond leased the Circuit City space. Steve & Barry's University Sportswear took the old Old Navy spot, and adjacent mall space, and created a new store out of them. This was shuttered in late 2008.

RANDHURST MALL had been in a downward spiral since the late 1990s. The facility was acquired by a joint venture of New York City-based J.P. Morgan Chase and Columbus, Ohio-based Casto Lifestyle Properties in early 2007. They envisaged a lifestyle-like reinvention.

The mall closed for good on September 30, 2008, ending a retail reign of 46 years. Demolition was underway by the end of the year. The bulk of the complex was bulldozed, leaving Carson's, Costco, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Jewel / Osco, Home Depot and five peripheral structures standing.

A 200 million dollar venue, known as RANDHURST VILLAGE, was created from the rubble. In addition to the surviving structures, it was to include 200,000 square feet of retail, a 120-room hotel, office spaces, 200 residential units and an underground parking garage (created from the old basement / fallout shelter).

The first stores to open were in business by August 2010. These included Jersey Mike's, Five Guys Burgers & Fries, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Sports Authority. Tony Sacco's Coal Oven Pizza, the Billy Goat Tavern, T.J. Maxx, PetSmart and Wet Seal were dedicated during 2011. Old Navy also opened in July of the year, returning to the mall site after a 6-year hiatus.

The state-of-the art American Multi-Cinema Randhurst 12 showed its first features on April 29, 2011. Store openings taking place between 2012 and 2014 included Blackfinn American Grill, Cost Plus World Market, e + o food & drink, Famous Footwear, Massage Envy, Maurices and Orangetheory Fitness.

RANDHURST VILLAGE was sold to Tarrytown, New York's DLC Management in June 2015. Carson's (a.k.a. Carson Pirie Scott) was an original RANDHURST CENTER anchor. A division of Pennsylvania's Bon Ton Stores since 2006, the Carson's chain folded as a result of that company's 2018 bankruptcy.

Sources:

The Chicago Tribune

The Mount Prospect Herald (Mount Prospect, Illinois)
http://pleasantfamilyshopping.blogspot.com / Requiem for Randhurst

http://www.therousecompany.com (Website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
www.labelscar.com
Cook County, Illinois tax assessor website
www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.randhurstmall.com