The former Pillsbury Mills plant on the north east side of Springfield closed 20 years ago. The 18-acre property has significant legal entanglements and is known to be contaminated with asbestos and lead paint. The surrounding neighborhoods are among the most severely impoverished in Springfield.
Removal of existing structures and redevelopment of the site will provide the area with public safety, environmental, health, justice, and economics benefits.
Moving Pillsbury Forward (MPF) has positioned itself to coordinate redevelopment of the 18-acre site.
The Pillsbury project is large and complex but manageable. The project is reasonable and workable with the coordination provided by Moving Pillsbury Forward. It is also clearly worth the effort.
Doing nothing is the worst possible outcome. A successful outcome will require significant support from both public and private sources – and the support of the entire Springfield community. Please join us.
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The Case of the Curious Coin
Friends, In early August while doing volunteer cleanup around the former Pillsbury property a team member found a curious coin. A large copper coin that took a bit of cleaning to reveal the type and date. It turned out to be an 1851 large cent. United States large cent coins were minted from 1793 to…
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Pillsbury’s Best Ghost Sign Revealed
Friends, Late last week as the evening sun was setting, the north wall of the Headhouse revealed a ghost sign to one of the Team Pillsbury members. The sun in the evening, at about 6:30, hit the upper Headhouse just right and revealed “Pillsbury’s Best” that had been hand painted on the wall back in…
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Archival Photos Now Available Online
Friends, The archival set of photographs that Moving Pillsbury Forward delivered to the Lincoln Library Sangamon Valley Collection last month is now available online at this link: https://lincpubl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/public/?rm=PILLSBURY+MILLS0%7C%7C%7C1%7C%7C%7C0%7C%7C%7Ctrue The full set of 100 photographs was composed and produced by Central Illinois photographer Ben Halpern. He worked on-site with our team members from November of 2022…
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“Pillsbury: Past, Present, and Future”
Chris Richmond, retired Fire Marshall in Springfield, IL and creator of the group Moving Pillsbury Forward, gives a PechaKucha presentation on “Pillsbury: Past, Present, and Future” as part of Springfield Inner City Older Neighborhoods’ (ICON) Annual Party Fundraiser 2019.