Pillsbury Mills site celebrates final days before demolition

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — On Friday, over 20 former employees gathered at the site of the Pillsbury Mills plant for a final picture before the buildings are demolished.

"Throughout 2025, we'll see big activities going on at the site," said Chris Richmond, President of Moving Pillsbury Forward. "The overall plan is to clear all of the existing structures from the site. We know we have funding right now to clear all of the manufacturing and warehousing structure from the site."

Before everything is torn down, Moving Pillsbury Forward has focused on preserving the history of the plant. They've saved artifacts from buildings and have photographed relevant parts of the facility. They've also welcomed artists in to celebrate the history.

One of these artists is Jen Santarelli. She's used the site to connect with her grandfather, who worked in the facility decades ago, before retiring.

"My dad was showing me the stamp book he had where my grandma would collect stamps from all different countries," said Santarelli. "My grandpa would get those stamps from packages coming into the loading dock and give it to her. So we have this really cool record of all the places that used to ship to Pillsbury here in Springfield."

One of her pieces is a wall of over 1,300 names, each showing a former Pillsbury employee. It provided the background for the photo with the former employees. Santarelli said putting her grandpa's name on the wall was a nice way to connect with him, even though he passed away.

"It's kind of interesting walking in my grandpa shoes in a way that, I didn't really get to do when he was still alive," said Santarelli.