damage to the abandoned bar. Demolition and redevelopment plans Various redevelopment plans were announced in 1985 and 1989, but went nowhere. Another plan announced in 1997 also came to nothing. In January 2005, an agreement was made with American Kitchen Delights to turn the former Montgomery Ward building into a showroom for American Kitchen's products, and with the YMCA to use another portion of the property to build senior citizen housing. Just days after the agreement was made, work on the Montgomery Ward store began during which the former store was gutted. 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. This plan forecast bringing more than 1,000 jobs to Harvey, which has one of the highest unemployment rates in Cook County. Complications In late June 2005, inspectors discovered the mall contained asbestos and ordered removed debris to be covered in plastic. They also discovered that the demolition company had been working without a permit. On July 3, 2005, the site renovation/demolition project was ordered halted until the asbestos issue could be properly resolved. 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). On February 16, 2006, the entire mall property was sold to developer John Deneen of the Emerald Property Group. 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. After the news crews left, so did the demolition companies. Within several months of the Montgomery Ward demolition, liens were placed against the mall by several invested companies. 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). 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. On