ORLAND PARK PLACE: ORLAND PARK, IL
Rich's Commentary
Posted September 3, 2006 (user submitted April 1, 2006)
It has been my observation that when two malls are built proximal to each
other, one of them is bound to falter. Orland Park Place was no exception to
this.
This was a full, two-level indoor mall with a late-1970's/early-1980's vintage
that was constructed directly across 151st Street from the Orland Square Mall.
Orland Park Place was obviously smaller in footprint from Orland Square, and it
consisted of three anchors. Montgomery Ward was situated on the north end
facing 151st Street, Wieboldt's was on the east side facing 94th Avenue, and
Main Street (later Kohl's) flanked the south end. In addition, there was a
Sportmart location which was situated on the west side facing US-45, precluding
a spot where a theoretical fourth anchor could have been built.
By the time I visited this complex in the late 1990's, the mall area had been
closed off, although I could still view the scope of the two-level atrium
through the window of the Ward's mall entry door. By the time 2001 rolled
around, Ward's had filed bankruptcy for the last time and its stores were
subsequently shuttered. Since Wieboldt's had already disappeared back in the
mid-1980's, this left Kohl's as the sole remaining department store.
Orland Park Place has since been redeveloped as as a strip center which faces
US-45. While Kohl's is still present to this day, the rest of the old mall
structure was gutted and reconfigured to fit tenants such as Barnes and Noble,
K&G Menswear, and Bed Bath and Beyond, among other significant retailers.
There are no longer any entryways to the structure from the 94th Avenue side.