NT_012518

24 | January 25, 2018 | The Northbrook tower community
northbrooktower.com
Time Lines
Changes, challenges all part of path to NB Court
Dan Kaye
Northbrook Historical Society
What do Northbrook
Court
and a bicentennial
celebration have in
common?
It’s a bit of a trick question,
because in this case
the bicentennial does not
refer to Illinois. While the
state is marking 200 years
in 2018, Northbrook
Court made its debut during
the nation’s bicentennial
year of 1976.
It was on St. Patrick’s
Day — March 17, 1976
— that the 1-millionsquare-foot
shopping center
officially opened to the
public. The ceremony that
day was emceed by WLS-
TV news reporter Fahey
Flynn and also featured
Northbrook Village President
Gerald Friedman,
actor Bill Daily (“The
Bob Newhart Show”),
“Miss photo Flash” Kristi
Oleson, and the Glenbrook
North Marching
Band. The sparkling mall
featuring more than 140
stores was highlighted by
four massive sculptures
created by California artist
Charles Owen Perry.
However, getting to
that glittering grand opening
was no easy task.
According to “Northbrook,
Illinois: The
Fabric of Our History,”
Isaac Galloway and his
brother, Job, came to this
area from Pennsylvania
about 1840 and bought
120 acres along County
Line (Lake Cook) Road.
Job named his portion
the Middle Branch Farm
for the portion of the
Chicago River that ran
through it. Job eventually
built a large house on the
property that remained in
the Galloway family for
three generations.
As more people came to
the area, some of the land
the Galloways had purchased
from the U.S. Government
had become part
of the 300-acre Krembs
Farm located along Lake
Cook Road. Two stables
also were in the area, Idle
Hour and the Blue Ribbon
Horse Complex. By the
mid-1950s, young families
also were moving into
Glenbrook Countryside,
a residential area south of
Lake Cook Road and east
of Waukegan Road that
remains part of unincorporated
Northfield Township
today.
In the late 1960s, a real
estate developer obtained
an option to purchase the
Krembs Farm that was
just outside the Northbrook
village limits. The
plan was to construct
2,300 apartments in
several 12-story buildings,
but the Williamsburg
Square Homeowners
Association (representing
the subdivision just south
of Lake Cook Road and
west of Skokie Boulevard)
filed suit to stop the
development.
The court eventually
ruled against the homeowners,
but by then the
developer’s option to
purchase the property
was running out of time.
Meanwhile, Hobart Development
(a Sears subsidiary)
approached the
Village with a proposal to
build a Sears store and 30
other retail shops on the
land if the Village would
annex the property.
At the same time, Neiman
Marcus, looking to
establish a presence in
Large sculptures like this highlighted open areas
at Northbrook Court when it opened in 1976. Photo
Submitted
the Chicago area, sought
a spot in the proposed
shopping center. So, in
1971, plans were approved
for Northbrook
Court — expanded
plans that then called for
more than 120 stores,
420 condominium units,
three banks, a restaurant,
and six one-story office
buildings surrounding the
mall.
However, the next
several years brought
anything but smooth sailing
for Northbrook Court.
As 1973 drew to a close,
17 lawsuits remained
pending regarding the
project. Included was a
bitter dispute with the
City of Highland Park,
which wanted to negate
the annexation of the land
to Northbrook. That did
not happen, but Highland
Park went on to install
traffic controls that limited
access into and out
of certain areas north of
Lake Cook Road.
The lawsuits finally
were settled, and construction
of Northbrook
Court proceeded. Included
in the process was the
demolition in 1975 of the
Galloway house, which
at one point had been the
home of the Blatchford
family.
Twenty years later,
as part of a major mall
remodeling in the mid-
1990s, a 14-screen theater
complex opened at
Northbrook Court in 1996
on the site of the former
I. Magnin store. The
refurbishing also included
removal of the geometric
sphere sculptures that had
been such a recognizable
part of the original
design. Sears closed
in 1983 and became a
JCPenney location briefly
before it was demolished
in 1995 to make way for
a new Marshall Field’s,
which eventually became
Macy’s.
Now, another 20 years
or so later, even though
Northbrook Court’s legal
conflicts have long faded
into the past, the center
confronts the challenges
most other malls face in a
shopping world becoming
more and more electronic.
As Adam Tritt of
General Growth Properties,
the current owner of
Northbrook Court, told
Village economic advisory
groups at a meeting
last year: “The old model
of the mall of the ’70s
and ’80s (very formulaic)
is giving way to more
free flowing experiential
form of real estate. . . .
with changes in shopping
demands, the form also
needs to change.”
Hamilton
From Page 16
program. When asked to
designate a top submission
from the students, GBE
teachers chose the one
who they felt captured the
best work of all students –
which was Christenson’s.
In total, 18 GBE students
were able to attend the
special show presented
for high school students,
as well as attend a private
Q&A with cast members.
Capturing the audience
Christenson wrote a
poem told from the perspective
of Alexander
Hamilton himself. To
overcome her stage fright,
she practiced both at home
and at school with her
English teacher, Lauren
Berk, and GBE principal,
Dr. Jim Shellard, in the
weeks leading up to the
show.
“My arms and legs were
shaking ... there was so
much talent on that stage,”
she said.
Christenson said she really
became interested in
poetry last spring and listened
to the musical “like
40 times” to prepare her
piece.
GBE guidance counselor
Melissa DeFrenza-Israel
describes Christenson
as a “creative, talented and
dedicated student.”
“During her performance
on stage, Madison
captivated the audience
with her lyrics and emotion,”
DeFrenza-Israel
said. “I am very proud
of her determination and
courage to pursue her
goals.”
Berk said that she thinks
Alexander Hamilton and
Christenson have a lot in
common.
“They share a strong
work ethic and a passion
for the pen,” Berk
said. “Both of them used
words as a way to get what
they were after. Madison
wrote her way to where
she wanted to be, and she
came full circle up there
on that stage with all eyes
on her.”
Now that Christenson
has captivated the student
audience of a best-selling
show, she says the experience
has only grown her
love of theatre. She enjoys
reading and writing, and
would like to get on stage
more often.
“If I’m not able to be
on stage, I think I would
enjoy playwriting,” she
said. “Writing seems like
the perfect opportunity for
me.”