The “Visitors” art opening at Pillsbury was a huge success! 300+ people attended the event at Pillsbury on a beautiful Fall evening.
Moving Pillsbury Forward would like to thank our volunteers, supporters, and artists for bringing together a truly unique and massive event to our community. The feedback we received last night from the attendees was filled with positivity. It became clear to us that we were on to something good…something people want to see again. We will do our best to secure a date for another event in the coming weeks.
We talked to several people that traveled from around the state to attend. They were very enthusiastic about the breadth of art and the arrangement of galleries. A special THANK YOU goes to Robert Mazrim, our local on-site curator and art director/coordinator. We trusted him and the artists involved…and they produced something that was simply spectacular.
Thanks for being a part of the Pillsbury Project,
Chris / Polly / Tony
PS Shadow dancing on the silos turned out to be an incredibly fun and interactive element of the show… Brilliant!
Moving Pillsbury Forward is committed to cleaning up the former Pillsbury Mills site and setting the stage for redevelopment of the 18-acres. This includes remediation and demolition of the existing structures at the site. While we await regulatory approval to move ahead with this plan, we are making the best of the situation through a series of community events.
After opening our Echoes of Pillsbury exhibit in September, we hosted over 500 people for public tours in October. Now, we are pleased to announce the opening for an on-site art installation and exhibit titled “Visitors” on Thursday (Nov. 9th) from 5:30 to 8:00 pm. Park and enter at the main gate (corner of 16th St. and Phillips Ave.). Admission is free.
“VISITORS” AT THE PILLSBURY MILL SITE
A special event will take place at the abandoned Pillsbury Mill factory on Thursday, November 9th. For the last month, graffiti artists have been transforming an entire floor of the emptied “C-Mill” building into a 15,000-square-foot art installation and exhibit titled “Visitors”.
The project, facilitated and sponsored by Moving Pillsbury Forward, focuses on the work of Minneapolis artists Shock and Static, who were encountered exploring the site at night in September. Moving Pillsbury Forward staff were familiar with their work (made during previous visits), and instead of ushering the artists off the property, they were invited to return to create new work under more ideal conditions. The result is a massive site-specific work, expressed in spray paint and found objects and exploring themes pertinent to the rise and fall of the Pillsbury factory and surrounding community during the 20th century. The installation also includes the work of other graffiti artists and local sculptors.
The project is not only a first for Springfield, but a unique one in the Midwest, representing rare cooperation between landowners, brownfield clean-up objectives, and “street artists”. Curator Robert Mazrim has for the last six months focused on the “aesthetic salvage and recycling” of the artistic potential of the ruined factory, before its scheduled demolition in the coming 18 months.
Access to the installation will be limited. For the November 9th event, visitors will be invited to explore the space, illuminated by improvised lighting, between 5:30 and 8:00 PM. The building has no heat, visitors should dress accordingly. Sturdy shoes or boots are recommended at this old factory venue. Admission is free.
“Visitors” provides yet another unique opportunity to explore and reconsider the remains of an important piece of Springfield history, and this time, to get a close-up view of an art form that is often fleeting and inaccessible to most residents of the community.
Public Notice EPA Brownfields Cleanup Grant Proposal Public Meeting at 6pm, Monday, November 6, 2023 Lincoln Library (Multipurpose Room) 326 S. 7th St.; Springfield, IL
Moving Pillsbury Forward, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is applying for a Brownfield Cleanup Grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency for activities associated with the remediation of the former Pillsbury Mills Plant site, located at 1525 E. Phillips Avenue, Springfield, Illinois.
As part of the application process, Moving Pillsbury Forward is required to obtain public input to their proposal, which is due to EPA on November 13, 2023. Starting November 1, 2023, a draft of the grant application and the draft Analysis of Brownfield Cleanup and Alternatives (ABCA) for the site will be available for public review at DelGiorno Law Office, LLC; 2160 S. 6th St., Ste. D-1, Springfield, IL 62703 during normal business hours. These draft documents are available for public review – click here…
Moving Pillsbury Forward will also discuss the draft proposal and draft ABCA, as well as accept and consider public comments at a Public Meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, November 6, 2023, at Lincoln Library (Multipurpose Room), 326 S. 7th St.; Springfield, IL 62701. If you need accessibility or language accommodations for the Public Meeting, please contact Chris Richmond, Moving Pillsbury Forward’s Board President, at 217-899-2749 or by email to .
Moving Pillsbury Forward will consider, respond to, and/or incorporate all substantial written comments on the DRAFT Application and ABCA documents that are received by noon on Friday, November 10, 2023. Written comments should be directed by email to Chris Richmond at or by US Mail to Moving Pillsbury Forward, PO Box 404, Springfield, IL 62705.
The Pillsbury employee phone booth was stolen this past week 🙁. We had it outside our front gate on display for tours and events this month. If you see it around town…please contact MPF or SPD. We would like to have it back! Thank you.
Pillsbury “Superfund Surfer” Artwork as seen on the guided tour. Yes…we have artists working at the site! Click to view larger image.
Friends,
Moving Pillsbury Forward is excited to report that over 150 people toured the former Pillsbury site Friday evening (10/13/23).
The last two scheduled tours for this Fall are Saturday, October 21st at 10:00 am and noon. Our Echoes of Pillsbury exhibit will be open starting at 9:00 am and will remain open until 2:00 pm. It is a well curated exhibit of history and artifacts from the Springfield Pillsbury Plant.
Tours are FREE and open to the public.
As in the Spring, these site tours will be walking tours of the ground floor area of several of our remaining buildings. The guided tours will last for approximately 45 minutes and cover about a half mile of walking distance. These tours are designed to be accessible for everyone. Sturdy shoes are recommended due to uneven concrete surfaces. Cameras are permitted.
Where: 1525 Phillips Ave. (plenty of parking is available near the south dock entrance at the corner of 16th and Phillips Ave.
Bricks from our recently demolished 1929 Warehouse #4 will be available. Donations will be accepted.
Thanks for being a part of this important community project.
Chalkboard from the AB-Mill 8th Floor – Marking the end-of-an-era. Click for larger image.
Friends,
Moving Pillsbury Forward is pleased to announce two dates for tours of the former Pillsbury site. We have had many requests for site tours. Our volunteers have worked hard to get the grounds ready. Tours are FREE and open to the public.
Friday, October 13th at 5:00 pm.
Saturday, October 21st at 10:00 am and noon.
Our Echoes of Pillsbury exhibit will be open before and after tours. It is a well curated exhibit of history and artifacts from the Springfield Pillsbury Plant.
As in the Spring, these site tours will be walking tours of the ground floor area of several of our remaining buildings. The guided tours will last for approximately 45 minutes and cover about a half mile of walking distance. These tours are designed to be accessible for everyone. Sturdy shoes are recommended due to uneven concrete surfaces. Cameras are permitted.
Where: 1525 Phillips Ave. (plenty of parking is available near the south dock entrance at the corner of 16th St. and Phillips Ave.
Bricks from our recently demolished 1929 Warehouse #4 will be available. Donations will be accepted.
Thanks for being a part of this important community project.
Event night photo of Pillsbury. The first night with lights in Warehouse #7 in over twenty years. Click for larger photo.
Friends,
Moving Pillsbury Forward is grateful to have had a successful Echoes of Pillsbury event this past Thursday evening. The event was our opportunity to have guests enjoy the opening night of the curated Pillsbury exhibit produced by Robert Mazrim. He did a wonderful job on the exhibit and presentation of the overall Pillsbury Project.
The weather cooperated and guests enjoyed the exhibit, live music, limited self-guided tours, civil defense siren restoration display, and an introduction to several of our resident artists. Guests included former employees, neighborhood residents, elected officials, and generous supporters. Many thanks to our dedicated volunteers for making this such a special night!
The weather cooperated and guests enjoyed the exhibit, live music, limited self-guided tours, civil defense siren restoration display, and an introduction to several of our resident artists. Guests included former employees, neighborhood residents, elected officials, and generous supporters. Many thanks to our dedicated volunteers for making this such a special night!
MPF continues our community centered collaborative approach to remediate and redevelop the former Pillsbury Mills site for the betterment of the surrounding neighborhood in Springfield, Illinois. While we wait on the necessary environmental review work that is currently taking place to prepare for the large-scale demolition activities, we are utilizing the time to engage in sharing, not only the past history of the plant, but the opportunity that the site currently provides for the community.
For the next few weeks we will have artists on-site utilizing the buildings and open spaces for a variety of art projects. These projects currently include photography, painting, sculpture, and videography. Additional art projects may also work their way into the mix. We are utilizing many of the industrial fixtures and elements found at the site for inclusion in these projects. An exhibition of these works is being planned for.
Thanks for being a part of this important community project.
Moving Pillsbury Forward has been asked on numerous occasions if the 3-million-bushel storage capacity at the former Pillsbury Plant could be reused. In other words, can the silos and grain elevator portion of the former Pillsbury Plant be retrofitted and economically reused for grain storage operations?
On the face of it, this seems reasonable. The concrete silos and elevator are well constructed and located in the heart of Central Illinois where grain production is high and storage facilities have been in demand for decades. The former Pillsbury facility is located next to an active railyard which is a plus for the site. Afterall, the railyard was used for many years to bring in wheat to the site and transport finished goods (flour, bakery mixes, grocery products) from the site.
Unfortunately, the answer to the question is no. Retrofitting the silos and elevator with new grain handling equipment would be costly. One estimate we received was 10 million dollars. So, it would not be economical.
Over the decades since it was built, the city has grown up around the site. Trucking grain into the site is more difficult than it was years ago. The more efficient and modern grain storage facilities are in rural areas with relatively easy heavy truck access near the fields where crops are grown.
Another negative for reuse of the silos at the former Pillsbury Plant is the relatively small size of each individual silo. Each of the 160 silos holds 18,000 bushels of grain. This was great for separating and blending wheat in the flour making process but not for commercial bulk storage operations of the 21st century.
Finally, modern large-scale commercial farms now utilize technologically advanced silos bags for on-site storage needs. These recyclable plastic storage bags typically hold 25,000 bushels of grain each. They can be easily deployed in a farm field and safely store grain for up to two years. Thus, eliminating the need for most large, fixed facility silo complexes.
Chris Richmond Pillsburyproject.org
PS – Special thanks to our local commercial grain farmers for helping us understand modern farming, grain storage equipment, and movement of grain to end markets from the producers here in Central Illinois. Your expertise has been enlightening.
A Pop-Up Exhibit and Gathering in the Shadow of the Pillsbury Plant
Moving Pillsbury Forward is pleased to announce that we are hosting a special event for the community at the Pillsbury Plant and you are invited! Please feel free to share this invitation with others.
Tuesday, September 21, 5:30 to 7pm
At the former Pillsbury Plant, 1525 E. Phillips, Springfield, IL.
Join Moving Pillsbury Forward for a very special evening of history, art, and storytelling. For the past six months, Moving Pillsbury Forward has been working with archaeologist and artist Robert Mazrin to record, salvage, and recycle not only historic artifacts from the abandoned Pillsbury factory, but also a remarkable range of relics and “ready-made” art objects. Arranged and displayed on-site, this special exhibit will b eopened fo ra public gathering and fundraiser on September 21st.
The suggested donation is $25. Former employees and our neighbors in the Pillsbury Neighborhood are invited as our guests.
The evening will include music by The End Times Trio, a presentation by Robert Mazrim, wine and soft beverages, and Jamaican food will be available from the Jamaican Me Hungry food truck. This promises to be a special evening. We look forward to seeing you!
Moving Pillsbury Forward had a great turnout this past week at both the Downtown Farmer’s Market and at our weekly Tuesdays on the Dock. Thank you! Since we sold out of engraved bricks this week, more have been ordered and they should be available in the coming week (download the brick purchasing information flyer).
We will continue to host guests as a part of our Pillsbury Reunion Project at the Pillsbury South Loading Dock on Tuesday mornings from 9:00am to 11:00am for the next several weeks (download the reunion flyer here). Please, feel free to come out and engage us. We still have a good supply of new in-the-box timecards and plenty of 1929 Warehouse #4 bricks available.
This week we learned more about the plant through two extended interviews with longtime employees. The project is experiencing wonderful success in capturing the history and great stories of Pillsbury.
Bricks – Since the 1929 Warehouse bricks have been a popular collector item, we thought everyone would enjoy knowing that they were manufactured locally by Springfield’s own Poston Brick. An article in the State Journal from May 4, 1930, reads:
The Pillsbury Mill is constructed of Poston brick made in Springfield and sold by Henry Nelch and Son Company. The face brick was burned at the Poston Springfield Brick company especially for the Pillsbury project following the color scheme and texture of other Pillsbury buildings.
After a series of experiments, the company found it could duplicate the dark red face brick samples submitted by the Pillsbury officials. Special treatment of the clay and shale and extreme care in burning were required, however. The bricks were selected and assorted very carefully.
Yes…the Union Made POSTON Springfield, ILL stamp is visible on many of the bricks (see below photo).
