SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Moving Pillsbury together came together as a working group in 2019, determined to help the once thriving factory. The buildings had been falling apart for 20 years and dragging down property values in the area.Â
"It is sort of bittersweet in the sense that we had a very productive Pillsbury facility for decades, but we know it's long past time for it to go," said Chris Richmond, President of Moving Pillsbury Forward. "Clearly the folks that live right here in the neighborhood by the plant, they are ready to see it go and so am I."Â
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On Tuesday, Moving Pillsbury Forward got approval on four ordinances, giving them $1,500,000 in city funding. According to Richmond, this brings the total finding to 6.3 million dollars out of an estimated 10 million dollar budget. The organization has applied for 3.6 million dollars in grants to fill the rest of the gap.Â
FILE - The view from high in the head house of the former Pillsbury Mills plant in Springfield, Ill., Nov. 30, 2023, shows the vast expanse of vacant factory that the nonprofit organization Moving Pillsbury Forward has pledged to demolish followed by redevelopment of the site. (AP Photo/John O'Connor)
The site is still under federal review processes for a housing and urban development grant and the Illinois EPA. Richmond estimates that those reviews will be completed in Spring. After the reviews are completed, Moving Pillsbury Forward will accept proposals for remediation contractors.Â
"Then by this fall, we'll bring in heavy equipment and start to tearing down some of the larger structures here at Pillsbury," said Richmond. "Our plan is to actually take down all of the existing structures on the property within the next two years, and fully prepare the site for redevelopment."
Richmond says specialists have told the organization that the land is best used as a light or medium industry that uses the active railyard next door. Richmond says his goal is to have a new, approximately 300,000 square feet facility fully functioning by 2030.
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