Lincoln Highway / US 50 and North Illinois Street
City of Fairview Heights, Illinois
The ninth mall-type shopping hub in Greater St. Louis was designed by the Widemayor-Cernik-Corrubia firm, of St. Louis. It was the sixteenth mall developed by the Gateway City's May Department Stores / May Centers company.
ST. CLAIR SQUARE was built on an 88.8-acre plot, located 13.9 miles east of the St. Louis Central Business District, in the suburb of Fairview Heights, Illinois. The first store to open was a 2-level (180,000 square foot) St. Louis-based Famous-Barr, which commenced operation on October 29, 1973. A 2-level, fully-enclosed mall of approximately 213,000 leasable square feet was added, which was dedicated on October 31, 1974.
Charter tenants included Pass Pets, S.G. Adams, Tall Fashions, Boyd's apparel, Libson Shops ladies' wear, Ludwig Music Studio, Motherhood Maternity, Bakers Shoes, B. Dalton Bookseller, Jaccards Jewelers and Naturalizer Shoes.
Sears built a second anchor. The 2-level (169,000 square foot) store opened for business on April 29, 1975. J.C. Penney's 2-level (141,600 square foot) unit was inaugurated on January 28, 1976. It was joined by a 2-level East Wing, anchored by a 2-level (171,000 square foot), St. Louis-based Stix, Baer & Fuller. This store made its debut on April 23, 1979.
By this time, Famous-Barr had been enlarged to 247,000 square feet. The fully-realized, ST. CLAIR SQUARE now spanned approximately 1,064,000 leasable square feet and housed 130 stores and services.
A commercial competitor -albeit a distant one- had been in business for a short time. ALTON SQUARE MALL {25 miles northwest, in the City of Alton, Illinois} was officially dedicated in 1978.
Anchor rebrandings at ST. CLAIR SQUARE got underway in 1985, when Stix, Baer & Fuller was rebranded by Dillard's. An 8 million dollar face lift updated the mall's interior spaces and added the 8-bay Square Meal Food Court. This food facility was installed in existing space on the Upper Level and was dedicated on October 4, 1993.
The shopping center was acquired by Chattanooga-based CBL & Associates Properties in November 1996. In 2002, CBL embarked on an extensive renovation. The first phase, carried out between January and November, reworked Center Court, where wooden beams were removed. This accommodated larger skylights over the area.
Phase Two got underway in January 2003. This updated the interior and exterior. Entrances were remodeled and the Food Court upgraded. New soft seating areas, flooring and lighting were also installed.
The third expansion of the mall got underway in late 2004. An (8,100 square foot) J. Buck's restaurant was added to the front of the complex, which opened September 26, 2005. At the same time, Dillard's was enlarged by 55,000 square feet, becoming a 227,000 square foot operation. The remodeled store was re-dedicated November 1, 2006.
ST. CLAIR SQUARE now spanned around 1,117,100 leasable square feet. There were over 140 stores and services, including the former Famous-Barr, which had been "Macy-ated" on February 1, 2006. The mall's renovation and expansion continued with the construction of an 84,000 square foot lifestyle center, known as THE SHOPPES AT ST. CLAIR SQUARE. This was built as an outparcel of the mall proper, occupying its southwest parking area.
Charter tenants included Pass Pets, S.G. Adams, Tall Fashions, Boyd's apparel, Libson Shops ladies' wear, Ludwig Music Studio, Motherhood Maternity, Bakers Shoes, B. Dalton Bookseller, Jaccards Jewelers and Naturalizer Shoes.
Sears built a second anchor. The 2-level (169,000 square foot) store opened for business on April 29, 1975. J.C. Penney's 2-level (141,600 square foot) unit was inaugurated on January 28, 1976. It was joined by a 2-level East Wing, anchored by a 2-level (171,000 square foot), St. Louis-based Stix, Baer & Fuller. This store made its debut on April 23, 1979.
By this time, Famous-Barr had been enlarged to 247,000 square feet. The fully-realized, ST. CLAIR SQUARE now spanned approximately 1,064,000 leasable square feet and housed 130 stores and services.
A commercial competitor -albeit a distant one- had been in business for a short time. ALTON SQUARE MALL {25 miles northwest, in the City of Alton, Illinois} was officially dedicated in 1978.
Anchor rebrandings at ST. CLAIR SQUARE got underway in 1985, when Stix, Baer & Fuller was rebranded by Dillard's. An 8 million dollar face lift updated the mall's interior spaces and added the 8-bay Square Meal Food Court. This food facility was installed in existing space on the Upper Level and was dedicated on October 4, 1993.
The shopping center was acquired by Chattanooga-based CBL & Associates Properties in November 1996. In 2002, CBL embarked on an extensive renovation. The first phase, carried out between January and November, reworked Center Court, where wooden beams were removed. This accommodated larger skylights over the area.
Phase Two got underway in January 2003. This updated the interior and exterior. Entrances were remodeled and the Food Court upgraded. New soft seating areas, flooring and lighting were also installed.
The third expansion of the mall got underway in late 2004. An (8,100 square foot) J. Buck's restaurant was added to the front of the complex, which opened September 26, 2005. At the same time, Dillard's was enlarged by 55,000 square feet, becoming a 227,000 square foot operation. The remodeled store was re-dedicated November 1, 2006.
ST. CLAIR SQUARE now spanned around 1,117,100 leasable square feet. There were over 140 stores and services, including the former Famous-Barr, which had been "Macy-ated" on February 1, 2006. The mall's renovation and expansion continued with the construction of an 84,000 square foot lifestyle center, known as THE SHOPPES AT ST. CLAIR SQUARE. This was built as an outparcel of the mall proper, occupying its southwest parking area.
Charter tenants included Ann Taylor, Chico's, Jared The Galleria of Jewelry, Barnes & Noble and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers. This "associated center" was dedicated on March 8, 2007. Sears, which anchored the south end of ST. CLAIR SQUARE for nearly 44 years, shuttered their store in March 2019.
Sources:
Sources:
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The Belleville News-Democrat (Belleville, Illinois)
https://www.stclairsquare.com
http://stclairsquare.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://www.almanancecrossing.com
St. Clair County, Illinois tax assessor website
https://www.cblproperties.com / CBL & Associates Properties
FAIR USE OF ST. CLAIR SQUARE IMAGE:
The image from The Belleville News-Democrat illustrates a key moment in the mall's history that is described in the article. The image is not replaceable with a free-use or public-domain image. The use of the image does not limit the copyright owners' rights to distribute it in any way. The image is being used for non-profit, informational purposes only and its use is not believed to detract from the original image in any way.
