Anchor stores opened on August 1, 1991. The rest of the mall officially opened two months later on October 2, 1991.
The mall complex has a total floor area of 702,906 square feet with designed expansion possibilities of up to 814,702 square feet. Target is occupying 112,000 sq. ft., Sears occupies 90,009 sq. ft. Dillards 100,000 sq. ft. and Pharmor occupied 66,920 sq. ft. when the mall opened.
The Mall project was made possible with the help of TIF incentives which created two lawsuits. One lawsuit was filed by the city of Carbondale, Illinois but was thrown out of court and they later filed an appeal. The other law suit was brought by Marion developer J.D. Castellano and others who won a partial victory. Circuit Judge Tom Haney found the city’s use of TIP incentives for the mall project was illegal, but upheld the use of the incentives in the rest of the district.
The mall changed ownership around 2010 and was renamed Illinois Star Centre Mall, but continues to operate in 2013. The anchor stores of Dillards, Sears and Target are still part of the mall but many of the smaller stores have come and gone and the mall frequently has unused store slots, as expected in a slow economy.
(Photos and some data from 1995 History Edition of Marion Daily Republican; Illinois Centre Mall; compiled by Sam Lattuca on 02/12/2013)