Maine North High School (officially was known as Maine Township High School North) was a public four–year

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

Des Plaines Des Plaines is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 60,675. The city is a suburb of Chicago and is located just north of O'Hare International Airport. It is situated on and is named after the ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, United States, located northwest of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Maine North was located in unincorporated Maine Township, part of

Maine Township High School District 207 Maine Township High School District 207 is a school district based in Illinois. Composed of all of Park Ridge and most of Des Plaines, as well as portions of Glenview, Harwood Heights, Morton Grove, Niles, Norridge, and Norwood Park Townsh ...

which includes Maine East, Maine West, and Maine South High Schools. Maine North served parts of

, 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.

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."Maine North winds down"; 3 May 1981; ''Daily Herald''; accessed 13 April 2009
/ref> 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 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

movie '' The Breakfast Club,'' filmed in the spring of 1984. 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 The Chicago Blitz was a professional American football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid-1980s. They played at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. Team history The Blitz were one of the twelve charter franchis ...

of the short-lived

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

and was renamed Blitz Park by head coach

George Allen George Allen may refer to: Politics and law * George E. Allen (1896–1973), American political operative and one-time head coach of the Cumberland University football team * George Allen (Australian politician) (1800–1877), Mayor of Sydney and ...

. It also later served as a mortuary college. In 1986, the school's interior was featured in another movie, ''

Ferris Bueller's Day Off ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' is a 1986 American teen comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by John Hughes and co-produced by Tom Jacobson. The film stars Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara, and Alan Ruck with supporting roles by Jennifer ...

''.

Today

References

External links

Maine Township High School District 207

{{authority control Des Plaines, Illinois Educational institutions established in 1970 Educational institutions disestablished in 1981 Former high schools in Illinois Public high schools in Cook County, Illinois