It’s been a quarter century since Gurnee Mills opened its doors.

To commemorate the 25th anniversary, a time capsule buried outside Entry B on Aug. 8, 1991, was cracked open Aug. 8 to the cheers of nostalgic residents, curious shoppers and local officials.

Gurnee Mayor Kristina Kovarik, with assistance from Miss Gurnee 2016 Leah Davis, Junior Miss Emily Hetman and Little Miss Morgan Ghys, had the honor of presenting its contents. Inside the capsule was popular '90s memorabilia including a Chicago Bulls championship T-shirt, an unopened box of Wheaties cereal featuring a beaming Michael Jordan, a fanny pack, cassette tape and sunglasses.

The capsule also contained a collection of the day’s local newspapers, Gurnee Mills swag, an original mall directory and shopping bag, staff photos and “an operating manual,” Kovarik said.

“So that’s where that went,” joked Randy Ebertowski, Gurnee Mills general manager.

Mohamad Joseph said he passed the spot where the capsule was buried almost every day and never realized it was down there. Joseph, who has worked at Gurnee Mills for about 20 years, brought his two sons to the event, noting they’d been counting down the days.

“I’ve been coming here since I was born, so I wanted to check it out,” 17-year-old Sanad said.

With wide eyes, his 9-year-old brother, Yousef, added, “How can it look the same since 1991? In 25 years, nothing broke!”

Speaking before the crowd, Kovarik took the opportunity to reflect on the elected officials, village staff and commissioners who worked many long hours to bring the megamall – the first and largest shopping destination of its kind in the Chicago area – to Gurnee, most notably the late mayor Dick Welton.

“It had to take an awful lot of courage to go through the process, meet with the developers and then engage the community. I am just in awe of his vision and I feel him here today,” she said.

Attendees included Welton’s wife, Debby; Steve Jacobsen, the development director who oversaw the mall’s original design and construction; Dave Schad, a retiring security guard who had worked at the mall since it opened; former village administrator Jim Hayner; Bob Depke, whose late father Robert W. Depke was chairman of the Lake County Board; and State Sen. Melinda Bush, among others.

When Gurnee Mills opened, it was heralded as a new kind of shopping experience, Ebertowski said.

“It has lived up to all its opening day superlatives and more,” he said. “They say it takes a village and in no instance is that more true than in the success of Gurnee Mills over the past 25 years.”

The mall continues to evolve and introduce new stores. The home improvement store Floor and Decor is scheduled to open mid-October in the space formerly occupied by Shopper’s World.

A 25-year retrospective of Gurnee Mills, including the time capsule items, is now on display inside Entry E, next to Bass Pro.

Fun facts

• Encompassing 1.9 million square feet, the mall features more than 200 outlet, value and full-price retailers along with dining and entertainment.

• More than 500 million shoppers have visited Gurnee Mills over the past 25 years.

• The S-shaped mall stretches more than a mile from corner to corner, with two miles of store fronts.

• Construction was completed in 25 months and required 1.6 million work hours, the equivalent of 80 people working full-time for 10 years.

• More than 150 million pounds of concrete was used to create the sub-flooring of the mall, which is equal to 500 house foundations.

• The amount of hardwood flooring in the mall could complete 37 basketball courts.

• The entire project, including out parcels, covers more than 400 acres, an area the size of 1,150 football fields laid side by side.

• To date, 42 percent of all waste collected at the mall has been recycled, more than double the average of comparably sized malls across the country.