SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) -An 18-acre abandoned factory sits in the middle of a residential neighborhood on the east side of Springfield.

For years, community members have worked toward trying to get the factory torn down, and now those concerned citizens are one step closer toward their goal.

In 2019, community members formed the organization Moving Pillsbury Forward. The president of the organization, Chris Richmond, said Moving Pillsbury Forward was created with a clear goal in mind.

"We're working toward the clearing of the property, and preparing it for re- development," Richmond said. "This looks like rust belt America, and it needs removed from our town."

The plant has sat vacant for more than 20 years.

"About a third of it has been demolished. All of the more expensive metals have been removed and scraped out of it," Richmond said. "[What's left] is about 500,000 square feet of hollowed out buildings and silos that have no function moving forward."

In the past few years, the organization has made some headway. Moving Pillsbury Forward has officially become a nonprofit.

"There are legal entanglements on the front end of this project," Walsh said. "Once we get beyond that, we've had experts on site, and they are estimating the overall project costs to clear the 18-acres would be somewhere between $8 million and $12 millions."

Richmond said the property has deteriorated too far and is a hazard to the community.

"The U.S. EPA came in to clean up the bulk of the asbestos and other contaminants that were on site," Richmond said. "Most of that got taken care of in 2017, but it still remains. That silver coating on the silo has low level asbestos."

With more than 12,000 people living within one mile of the old plant, Richmond said the plant needs to be torn down.

"We believe we've now got consensus within the community that the property just really needs to come down and be cleared," Richmond said.

According to Richmond, the organization is working to get grants for the project at both the state and federal level.

"There are Rebuild Illinois grant funds available to us for at least the next four years," Richmond said. "The federal government, through U.S. EPA, has funding available for site cleanups just like this one."