Category: News

Friends,

Last Friday morning (10/10) the crews from Select Demo used a 250′ crane to lift equipment and supplies to the top of the 224′ tall Headhouse. Removal of the silver coating on the top half of the Headhouse is the last phase of cleanup at the site. All of the buildings were cleared of asbestos by late summer. The silo cleanup was completed just this past week. 

One of the fun aspects of the crane lift was the fact that it provided a great opportunity to bring down the heavy blower motor for the Civil Defense Siren. Two summers ago, we documented and removed most of the 1956 siren components so that they could be refurbished. The blower motor proved to be too heavy to safely handle in getting it down manually with ropes. The crane worked perfectly. When fully refurbished, the siren will find a new home in a community needing an emergency warning system upgrade. The young man from Jacksonville doing the work is impressive.

The viewing area near 16th St. and Phillips Ave. continues to have a lot of activity. The big crane and wrecking ball have been working to bring down the 160′ tall Turbo and Bulk Storage buildings this week. They were constructed in the early 1960’s at the south end of the AB-Mill. Ground crews with trackhoes are sorting materials from the Grocery Mix building demolition. It is fun to see the heavy equipment at work and progress being made. The best active viewing times are from 8:00 to 3:00pm Monday thru Friday.

Thanks for being a part of this important community project.

~ Team Pillsbury

Friends,

Demolition of the 96,000 square foot Grocery Mix Building at Pillsbury continues this week. The 8000lb wrecking ball is making good progress and it is easy to imagine that the sugar tower on the roof of the building will come down this week. Yesterday the second floor forklift bridge that connected the Grocery Mix Building and the AB-Mill came down. The 6-foot shears on the trackhoe that cut the bridge were impressive to see in action!

Earlier this week we welcomed a 50-year Pillsbury employee back in Springfield as he traveled from Murfreesburo, Tennessee. He drove here to see the buildings for one last time. He worked in the Springfield plant early in his career then took the job transfer option offered in 1991 when Pillsbury sold the Springfield Plant to Cargill. He stayed on with Pillsbury for another 30-years in Murfreesboro. An extraordinary career.  We visited with several former employees in the viewing area this week. They all have great stories to tell. 

It has been a fun and interesting week for the project. We have learned a lot about the history of the plant and the people that worked there. We have also enjoyed everyone’s commentary and speculation on how the big demolition would (or should) proceed. Please, take the time to stop by and enjoy the show as the wrecking ball continues pounding. 

Thanks for being a part of this important community project. 

~ Team Pillsbury

Friends,

Update Wednesday, September 17:

Update Monday, September 15:

Another large crane was delivered to the site late Friday. This one is an American 9299 model. A team of workers will begin assembling it on Monday. The boom on this one appears to be about 200 feet in length. Enough to reach our tallest buildings at the site.

Demolition of the 160-foot-tall smokestack is anticipated to happen on Tuesday or Wednesday to get things started. The 5-story Grocery Mix building demolition is next up after the smokestack.

Visitors are welcome to stop by to view the demolition. MPF will have a viewing area for the smokestack and Grocery Building demolition established in the Pillsbury front yard area beginning Tuesday morning. A shaded area with seating and ice water will be provided. Visitors are welcome to bring chairs as well.

There is plenty of off-street parking available in our lots at 15^th St. and Phillips Ave. These are the former employee parking lots. With safety in mind, we ask that onlookers stay clear of the main gate entrance at 16^th Street so that workers and equipment can access the site with minimal traffic.   

We hope to see many of our friends this week as we celebrate the bittersweet end of the Pillsbury era in Springfield.

Thanks for being a part of this important community project.

~ Team Pillsbury

Friends,

We had a visit this week from Anne Vogel, our EPA Regional Administrator. She came to see the Pillsbury site and the cleanup progress that has been made possible with over $3M in grant funding from EPA. She oversees EPA Region V which includes all of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. It was a great opportunity to demonstrate how the grant funds are being spent and why it is so important for our community.

The largest part of the cleanup at this stage of the project involves the removal of the silver paint coating on the silos and headhouse. It has approximately 5% of asbestos content and has been problematic for years. Once this 290,000 sq. ft. surface coating is removed, we can demolish these structures and recycle the estimated 70,000 tons of concrete.

These cleanup funds were a critical component in bringing the overall project together. The cleanup must be completed prior to demolition so that renewal at the site could take place. In just a few short weeks, the silo cleanup will be completed, and we can move forward to the much-anticipated large-scale demolition aspect of the project. All the smaller structures at the site have now been cleaned up and removed.

A special thank you to Frank Bowen, our volunteer Pillsbury Project photographer, for attending the site visit this week and providing great photos. He has been there for nearly all our big events and has produced an impressive photo catalog of our various site activities.

Thanks for being a part of this important community project!

~ Team Pillsbury

Friends,

The number one question asked by community members these past few weeks is: How will the big buildings come down? Will they be imploded? Well, the answer is no. We investigated it. The cost savings were just not there, and the liability concerns were also a big factor in our decision to go with the tried-and-true methods of using a wrecking ball and hydraulic crushers. It is cost effective and much safer than using dynamite…just not quite as fast.

A big crane (an American 9260 model) was delivered to the site last week. It came on several semi-trucks and will likely be put together in the coming week. This 300,000 lb. machine should be enough to get the job done!

Cleanup contractors continue to make good progress at the site. The buildings have now been cleared of an estimated 90% of all remaining asbestos. Several of them are now fully prepared for demolition to begin. Coordination with the contractors has been excellent and we anticipate that July will be the month when the big demolition begins.

We are not certain of the building demolition sequence just yet, but we will be sure to keep everyone informed. We do know that the silos and headhouse will be the last to go. Cleanup crews are about one-third complete with the silver paint removal project prior to demolition. They will remain on-site completing this job for another two months. With the paint removed, we can then demolish the silos and recycle the estimated 70,000 tons of concrete used in their construction. A big cost savings for the overall project!

Thanks for being a part of this important community project.

~ Team Pillsbury

Friends,

Moving Pillsbury Forward continues to see good progress both at the former Pillsbury site and around the entire Pillsbury Neighborhood.

About a dozen local laborers have been working each weekday at the site preparing for and removing asbestos floor tiles in buildings these past two weeks. This work will continue for several more weeks in a systematic fashion until all buildings are cleared.

Two buildings have been fully prepared for demolition. The two-story locker room building (7300 sq. ft.) and the two-story Warehouse #1 (21,000 sq. ft.) are scheduled for demolition first. These two buildings are at the south end of the site and are anticipated to be demolished later this month.

Visitors along 15^th Street this week will see workers beginning to remove the silver coating from the silos in preparation for demolition later this year. Workers will be hanging on “swing scaffolding” and using a high-pressure water misting system to remove the silver coating that was applied 60 years ago. This activity will be ongoing for about 3-4 months. Engineers have estimated that 260,000 sq. ft of coating will be removed.

MPF Volunteers have kept active in the Pillsbury Neighborhood this month. More than 12 vacant neighborhood lots have been cleared of excess vegetation, garbage, and tree branches from the June 29, 2023, derecho storm event. It has been a long recovery for this older neighborhood since that time. We are glad to have helped advance the recovery. We also edged over 800 feet of sidewalks! This was a big improvement along 15^th St.

We will continue clearing lots and alleyways in the coming months. The aim is to improve the quality of life for residents of the entire neighborhood. If you would like to join us, please stop in at the 15^th St. field office. We have volunteer teams working on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8am to noon every week. We have all the tools necessary, and the work is rewarding.

Thanks for being a part of this important community project.

~ Team Pillsbury