Ford City Mall is a shopping center located on the Southwest Side of Chicago in the West Lawn neighborhood at 76th Street and Cicero Avenue. Opened in 1965, Ford City is the largest enclosed mall in Chicago outside of downtown. Anchored by Carson's and JCPenney, the mall contains more than 135 stores and restaurants including Applebee’s, Bath & Body Works, The Children’s Place, Foot Locker, Zales Jewelers, Marshalls, Old Navy, Victoria’s Secret/PINK, and Ross Dress for Less. There are several out parcels including a 14-theater AMC Theatres. Ford City Mall is managed by Mid-America Asset Management.HistoryConstruction started in 1942 to build a defense plant. Approximately 17,000 workers were employed. This caused the southwest side of the city to become more populated as more people were moving there for work. By October, Building No. 1 was finished. Testing of aircraft engines to be used for the B-29 bomber began. By the spring of 1943, 10 buildings, made of steel, concrete and wood, had been constructed. The building covered approximately 6000000sqft. The largest building was Building No. 4. It covered 62acre, and it was built out of reinforced concrete. The plant contained 7000mi of underground piping and 15mi of cables and wires for water and power.
