The site of the former Pillsbury factory on Springfield’s northeast side could be leveled and developed for future residential, industrial or commercial use – maybe even become a solar farm – in the next five years or more.
Those are among the hopes of Moving Pillsbury Forward, a Springfield nonprofit that recently acquired the 18-acre site from P-Mills LLC after years of both legal and illegal scrap removal since then-owner Cargill shut the site down in 2001.
But first, MPF, which bought the site at 1525 Phillips Ave. for $1, plans to hire the Fehr Graham Engineering & Environmental firm to evaluate the soil, groundwater and remaining 500,000 square feet of buildings.
“That environmental work will tell us how contaminated the soil is and what we can do at this site,” said Chris Richmond, a Springfield resident and retired firefighter who is president of MPF and helped launch the group in 2019.
State and federal grants would fund most of the site preparation and development, he said. Depending on what the environmental study reveals, the site could be ripe for development, Richmond said. It’s already near major electrical, rail and water lines, he said.
The group wants to hear more from Springfield residents about their preferences. MPF plans to hold a public hearing on the issue from 6 to 8 p.m. April 27 in the commons area at Lanphier High School.
“People would like to see the site cleared of these abandoned buildings,” Polly Poskin said [a member of MPF’s executive board and vice chair of the steering committee for Springfield Inner City Older Neighborhoods]. “They’re unsafe. They’re an eyesore. And I think they’re also a painful reminder of what was – an economic driver in this city.”
Poskin, who lives in the Harvard Park neighborhood, said “gentrification” is not one of MPF’s goals for the Pillsbury site and surrounding neighborhood. Basic improvements and a halt in economic decline are what Springfield’s older neighborhoods need, she said.
“I think our city has long neglected the north and east and southeast ends of the community, and this is a chance to change the focus,” she said. “If we’re going to maintain a viable city, then we’ve got to ensure the residential integrity of all aspects of our community.”