Maine North High School
Maine North High School was a public 4–year high school in Des Plaines, Illinois, northwest of Chicago.
| Maine North High School | |
|---|---|
 Maine North circa 1979. | |
| Address | |
| |
9511 Harrison Street , | |
| Coordinates | 42.060°N 87.863°W |
| Information | |
| Former name | Shermer High School |
| School type | |
| Opened | August 1970 |
| Status | Closed |
| Closed | May 1981 |
| School district | Maine Township High School District 207 |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Gender | Coed |
| Campus type | Suburban |
| Color(s) | Black Gold |
| Athletics conference | Central Suburban League |
| Team name | Norsemen |
| Yearbook | Saga |
| Elevation | 640 ft (200 m) AMSL |
High School
Maine North was located in unincorporated Maine Township, part of Maine Township High School District 207 which includes Maine East, Maine West, and Maine South High Schools. Maine North served parts of Des Plaines, Glenview, and Niles.
Opened in August 1970, Maine North closed in May 1981.
The building is constructed in brutalist style, and its architect was Donald Stillwaugh.[1]
History
As student population declined, the decision came down to closing Maine East or Maine North. Maine East, the oldest school in the district, opened in 1929, but also had considerable numbers of alumni and students with the S.O.S. (Save Our School) campaign pushing to keep it open.
On November 17, 1980, the school board voted, 4–3, to close Maine North by the following year, citing that it was not only the smallest school, but the least centrally located of the schools in the district. In October, the board voted to close the school at the end of the 1980–1981 school year.[2] The building was subsequently sold along with the District's administrative building, which had its offices relocated to Maine South High School.
Later uses
After its closing, Maine North was used for location shooting of the 1985 movie The Breakfast Club, filmed in the spring of 1984.[3] The library scenes in the movie were shot in the school gymnasium, where a set was constructed. A plaque downstairs in the building commemorates the movie being shot there.
The school was also used as a training facility for the Chicago Blitz of the short-lived United States Football League and was renamed Blitz Park by head coach George Allen. It also later served as a mortuary college.[4] In 1986, the school's interior was featured in another movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off.[5]
Today
The Maine North High School building is now used as a district headquarters for the Illinois State Police, a communications center for the Cook County Sheriff's Department, an Illinois Lottery payment office, the largest regional office of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, the Northern Illinois office of the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board as well as regional offices for other various Illinois state agencies including the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation, Central Management Services, and the Illinois Department of Agriculture. The land near the school that was used for athletic fields has been redeveloped into townhouses.
References
- Randle, Wilma (1997-11-10). "DESIGNER OF 100 SUBURBAN SCHOOLS RETIRING". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2021-01-17.
- "Maine North winds down"; 3 May 1981; Daily Herald; accessed 13 April 2009
- "The Breakfast Club (1985) - Filming locations". IMDb. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
- "Maine Township North HS Norsemen (Des Plaines)". Illinois High School Glory Days. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
- "Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) - Filming locations". IMDb. Retrieved 2008-04-20.