"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 (known today as Six Flags Great America) 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. Its address was 555 S. Bolingbrook Drive, Bolingbrook, Illinois 60439." (Wikipedia)

"Old Chicago was a combination shopping mall and indoor amusement park. It was the world's first completely enclosed amusement park, and it was located in the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook," the lisawebworld.com says.

"Old Chicago consisted of a large square building with a dome in the center. The rides and attractions (the Old Chicago Fairgrounds) were in the center under the dome, and the shopping area surrounded them. When it opened in 1975, part of the grand opening celebration included a tap dancer dancing on the very top of the dome.

"Various events took place at Old Chicago during its short history, including holiday fireworks displays and radio station promotional appearances. The Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon took donations in a glass fishbowl in the parking lot, and sometimes did remote broadcasts from inside the park. Many rock bands and singers appeared at Old Chicago, as well."

"The story of Old Chicago as an amusement park is an incredibly short one, especially for the amount of capital invested into the project. The time between the inception and closure of the property of the amusement park was less than a decade when it shut its doors for the final time in 1980. Another near-decade of dormancy would follow in the 1980’s before the building which housed the mall and theme park was demolished late in the decade," the FRRandP says.

"The idea for an indoor amusement park in the early 1970’s was, of course, far ahead of its time, and to date has only been successfully implemented in a handful of locations across the United States, most notably the Mall of America. I think to compare Old Chicago to modern-day indoor amusement parks within malls is a bit of a stretch, mostly in how they derive their value proposition. The Mall of America is a mall that has a theme park located within it; Old Chicago felt more like a theme park with a mall surrounding it. This meant Old Chicago had a lot more theming in its site, and while this may be a positive when comparing it to how sterile most retail space in the United States is, it did make the sales pitch for anchor stores more difficult than would otherwise be necessary for a more traditional indoor mall.

"Despite only operating for about five years in the late 1970’s, the park has many fond memories among those who were alive to experience it, even over thirty years after its doors closed for the last time. Sadly, its legacy among both malls and amusement parks is lacking, as a decided lack of focus for the project even from its inception probably sealed its fate before it even opened its doors to the public. One of the things that makes Old Chicago such an interesting place, is how little remains of the area. Were a traveler to visit the site today, there is next to no indication that “Old Chicago Drive” was once home to a 345,000 sq. ft mall."

"Old Chicago was conceived by designer/builder Robert Brindle after a visit to Knott's Berry Farm in BuenaVista, California. In June of 1973, Robert Brindle brought a watercolor print of his proposed Old Chicago Towne to the Bolingbrook plan commission. He proposed a 345,000 square foot indoor complex that would include outdoor-type amusement rides including a roller coaster, ferris wheel, and log flume, ringed by specialty shops, boutiques, and restaurants. He promised to "put Bolingbrook on the map."

"The visitors saw Chicago turn-of-the-century style architecture, a million dollars worth of memorabilia, two hundred stores and restaurants, and continuous vaudeville-type entertainment billed as the world's first indoor amusement park. They were welcomed by the park's mascot, Charlie Baffle and enjoyed the first corkscrew roller coaster called "The Chicago Loop" and 31 other rides, including the Rotor, Yo-Yo, Flume, Chicago Cat (Zyklon), Windy City Flyer, plus the International Circus and Vaudeville theater," the Bolingbrook History says.

"While Old Chicago put Bolingbrook on the map, after numerous setbacks, the park closed on March 17, 1980, the rides were sold, and the last remaining stores left soon afterward - only five years after opening. The famous lions in front of the door were modeled after those at the Art Institute of Chicago. They were sold to Joseph Levy, who owned a car dealership next door to the center. He moved them to his Skokie car dealership and painted them purple and white for Northwestern University's colors. They were later sold to Terry Upton of McHenry, Illinois."

"Old Chicago was the name and it was created by the architecture of Louis Sullivan, who opened the combo mall and amusement park in 1975. Old Chicago was created to bring people out of the city to enjoy shopping, a day of fun with rides (including three roller coasters), and eventually, a circus was added. However, in building Old Chicago Sullivan was over the budgeted amount he had to build the mall, there were major electric issues within the first few days of opening, and the death of a trapeze entertainment at the circus made it difficult for the mall to stay open," the 97.9 KICK FM says.

"They also were complete with a major outdoor amusement park we know today as Six Flags Great America. With stores closing because visitors stop coming and ride breaking down the combination mall and amusement park closed their doors for good in 1980, it was only open for five years. However, having an indoor amusement park made way for some other big malls to bring the idea to their shopping places.

"Mall of America has Nickelodeon Universe, and the West Edmonton Mall in Canada built its mall around an amusement park. The area in which Old Chicago was built is just a flat space now, the mall was demolished in 1986, and is now owned by Amazon which plans to build a $50 million distribution center. There is one roller coaster that was used at Old Chicago, the "Chicago Loop" coaster (what it was originally called) was moved to the Alabama State Fair Grounds and named and changed to "Corkscrew." It was then moved to Canobie Lake Park in New Hampshire and retired at the end of the 2021 season."

"Old Chicago was conceived by designer/builder Robert Brindle after a visit to Knott's Berry Farm in BuenaVista, California. In June of 1973, Robert Brindle brought a watercolor print of his proposed Old Chicago Towne to the Bolingbrook plan commission. He proposed a 345,000 square foot indoor complex that would include outdoor-type amusement rides including a roller coaster, ferris wheel, and log flume, ringed by specialty shops, boutiques, and restaurants. He promised to "put Bolingbrook on the map."

"The visitors saw Chicago turn-of-the-century style architecture, a million dollars worth of memorabilia, two hundred stores and restaurants, and continuous vaudeville-type entertainment billed as the world's first indoor amusement park. They were welcomed by the park's mascot, Charlie Baffle and enjoyed the first corkscrew roller coaster called "The Chicago Loop" and 31 other rides, including the Rotor, Yo-Yo, Flume, Chicago Cat (Zyklon), Windy City Flyer, plus the International Circus and Vaudeville theater," the Bolingbrook Historic Preservation Commission says.

"Only six months after opening, the complex ran into financial troubles due to construction cost overruns. Additionally, the park was hurt by a lack of anchor stores to bring in local repeat shoppers, and the opening of a competing amusement park in the same general region, which resulted in the mall being on the verge of bankruptcy."

"Old Chicago was the world's first completely enclosed amusement park and shopping center located at 555 S. Bolingbrook Drive, Bolingbrook, Illinois. It was open 365 days a year. Old Chicago consisted of a large square building with a domed center. The rides and attractions (the "Old Chicago Fairgrounds") were in the center, under the dome, and the shopping area surrounded them. When it opened in 1975, part of the grand opening celebration included a tap dancer dancing on the top of the dome," the Digital Research Library says.

"The "Shopping Mall" had a cobblestone floor and was designed to resemble a turn-of-the-20th-century street. Basically, one long hallway followed the entire perimeter of the building. At strategic points, there were windows where you could look out into the amusement park area. A spiral entrance ramp led from the mall level down to the park level, where the rides were arranged in a large circle. Trees, benches, and streetlights provided a park-like atmosphere. The "Fairgrounds" had "31 great rides and attractions," all crammed into the domed center of the building.

"It was amazing that they could fit everything in the small space. At the time it opened, Old Chicago charged $1.00 for admission to the amusement park (50¢ for children), and then charged a flat fee for unlimited rides. They had a small souvenir shop by the entrance to the amusement park. In addition to standard style rides (some with new names) like the Round-up, Tilt-a-Whirl, Chicago Bobs, Scrambler, Spider, Merry-go-round, Monster of the Midway, Rotor, Antique Cars, Barnstormer, Crash of '29 (bumper cars), Enterprise, Trabant, Ferris wheel, Paratroopers, Four Seasons (dark ride), Yo-Yo, Toboggan, Screamer, and the Windy City Flyer, there were two Roller Coasters; the Zyclon and the Chicago Loop. There was also a water ride called the Chicago Log Race."