It achieved notoriety because of a growing Internet cult-following of urban exploration groups dedicated to covering the mall's deteriorating condition.

Over the 30-plus years during which these proposals and others were presented and failed, Dixie Square Mall fell into disrepair and decay due to natural elements, vandalism, arson, and a lack of maintenance funds.

[8][9] However, by the early 1970s, crime was increasing in Harvey, a poverty-stricken and blighted suburb 20 miles (32 km) south of Chicago,[10] and several significant criminal incidents occurred at or near the mall, including three murders in one year alone.

In this scene, main characters Elwood and Jake Blues drive through storefronts, display cases, and walls and destroy much of the mall while being chased by Illinois State Police troopers.

A fake wall that film crews constructed, which cars crashed through at the beginning of the scene, was recognizable inside the building until the mid 1980s.

[9][15] The Harvey-Dixmoor School District attempted to sue Universal Pictures in December of 1981 for $87,000, citing their failure to repair damage to mall property created during the movie shoot.

[9][11] After the mall's abandonment, it experienced extensive neglect and damage from vandalism,[16][17] and the full-time caretaker hired by Harvey to maintain the property was physically unable to repair it.

The City of Harvey did not have the funds to maintain it, and in 1984, vandals broke in for the first time, damaging and looting the mall, and leaving a number of entrances open in the process.

[9] In 1985, the Wards Auto Service garage in the southwest corner of the mall property was razed, in preparation for construction of a new police station for Harvey.

[9][19] Despite the new Harvey Police station occupying land immediately adjacent, the shuttered mall gained a reputation as a notorious crime magnet during the early 1990s.

The fire caused the roof to cave in, and due to that and other structural collapses, saplings started growing inside the former mall.

[9][22] On April 14, 2005, a further plan was set in motion to demolish the remnants of Dixie Square (except for the Montgomery Ward building which was ostensibly being renovated for American Kitchen Delights) and bring top "big-box" retailers to the former mall site, including Costco, Kohl's, and Old Navy.

[24] Late on Christmas Eve 2005, the Mayor of Harvey happened to drive past the site and discovered work crews, without having resolved the asbestos problem, were illegally demolishing the central energy plant and had also torn down a large portion of the Montgomery Ward building accidentally (ending any chance of its renovation).

The remainder of the Montgomery Ward building was torn down March 1 in a widely publicized PR campaign, but no progress was made to demolish the rest of the mall afterwards.

Deneen threatened the owner of one of these companies with brass knuckles and a firearm (as a result, he pleaded guilty in 2008 to aggravated unlawful use of a weapon).

[27] Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan also filed lawsuits against Deneen and several prior developers for failing to remove the asbestos in accordance with state law.

[28] The fire damaged the Block C entrance to the point where its roof collapsed within a month, and left scorch marks on the exterior of the former JCPenney building.