Category: News

Friends/Volunteers,

Moving Pillsbury Forward is incredibly proud of the volunteer efforts and uplifting response the community has provided to the Pillsbury Project.  

These efforts include both on-site (physical efforts at the property) and off-site efforts (research, legal, consulting, communications, fundraising, grant writing, etc.)  

The off-site efforts are tough to measure.  What is the dollar value of good advice from volunteers? Services provided when asked? Encouragement?  Well, we know it has great value…just look at what we have all accomplished!  THANK YOU

The on-site efforts are not as tough to measure.  Attached is the write-up for the on-site efforts at the former Pillsbury property for 2022.  There are three primary areas volunteers focused on between March (when MPF took ownership) and the end of the year: Site clearing, mowing, and building cleanouts.  These efforts have standardized dollar amounts that can be calculated.  MPF volunteers worked on-site in providing a dollar value of $158,000 for the Pillsbury Project in 2022.  Again, THANK YOU

Download the 2022 Volunteer Efforts Write-up…

Yes…It is important to pause and reflect on what we have accomplished together…as a community.  We began the coordinated effort a little over 3 years ago. The community benefits (health, public safety, social & environmental justice, economic) of the Pillsbury Project are nearer to us than at any time in the past 20 years.  We have taken control of what was once thought to be hopeless.  We have moved it ahead…and will continue to do so.  The community benefit is worth the effort!

Chris Richmond
President, Moving Pillsbury Forward
pillsburyproject.org

Friends,

Moving Pillsbury Forward (MPF) is pleased to announce that our application for Congressionally Directed Spending through Senator Durbin’s Office has been secured in the FY23 Federal budget. Our application for $2,000,000 in remediation and demolition assistance was completed shortly after MPF took possession of the property in March of  2022. We are grateful to have support from all levels of government and every corner of our community. Together, we have successfully moved the property away from the unhealthy equilibrium it had rested on for too long.  We have momentum working for us.  We look forward to another productive year and continued progress. 

View the full article on Senator Dick Durbin’s website…

View the latest Pillsbury Project Overview (PDF)… 

Thank you,
Chris Richmond
President, Moving Pillsbury Forward
pillsburyproject.org

Friends,

Moving Pillsbury Forward is pleased to announce that demolition activities will begin this week on two warehouses at the site.  Months of site testing, clearing, and preparation have allowed for this to happen.  Thanks to all who have supported the Pillsbury Project.  We could not have reached this milestone without you!  

Warehouses # 4 and #5 are at the front end of our multi-phase site demolition sequence.  These 50,000 square foot warehouses have been missing their roof for 8 years and are already collapsing.  Getting these buildings down will significantly improve site safety.

Demolition activities can be safely viewed from the Pillsbury parking area on the southwest corner of 15th St. and Division St.  

A press conference is scheduled for Wednesday, December 21st at 1:00 pm to provide details.  The location is just inside the Pillsbury north gate at the corner of  15th St. and Division St.  We hope to see you there!

Chris Richmond

President, Moving Pillsbury Forward

Friends,

Moving Pillsbury Forward has completed the Phase II Environmental Site Assessment of the former Pillsbury Mills property.  We have scheduled a public meeting to share the results with the entire community. 

When:  October 12th, 7:00pm to 8:00pm.  Doors open at 6:30pm.

Where:  Wanless Elementary School, 2120 E. Reservoir St.

Why:  To give an update of Pillsbury Project accomplishments, share results of the environmental site assessment, provide information about the next steps for the project, and answer questions from the community.

Download the Flyer… (PDF)

We have had a productive 6 months since acquiring the site.
Here are a few highlights:

• The Phase II Environmental Site Assessment was initiated and completed.
• The site has been cleared of unwanted vegetation.
• Over 155 tons of loose scrap metal has been removed from the site.
• Over 300 cubic yards of garbage has been collected and removed.
• Hundreds of hours of volunteer labor have been logged.
• Site safety and security have increased dramatically.

Please view and share our story:

Download the PDF…

Chris Richmond
President, Moving Pillsbury Forward
PillsburyProject.org

Moving Pillsbury Forward held a community meeting on April 27, 2022 at Lanphier High School.

MPF project organizers reviewed the project background, history, current status, environmental survey, and indicated that MPF will continue to solicit community input. A question and answer period followed, and Tony DelGiorno reviewed action items.

Download the minutes here…

Friends,

Moving Pillsbury Forward partnered with SIU-Med students, the Pillsbury Neighborhood Association, SPD, and Public Works yesterday for a Spring cleanup.

We worked with 35 medical students on their Spring day-of-service to enhance the environmental health of the Pillsbury Neighborhood. It was a success!

MPF utilized the Pillsbury property as a staging area for activities. Alleys were cleared of rubbish, 11th St. sidewalks were cleared of debris. Litter was collected throughout the eight square block neighborhood. (see attached photos) Similar activities took place throughout the day in the Enos Park Neighborhood as well.

Thank you students and volunteers for making this neighborhood improvement day successful!

Chris Richmond
President, Moving Pillsbury Forward
PillsburyProject.org

By Dean Olsen

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.”

Read the full story at IllinoisTimes.com…

by Steven Spearie

Chris Richmond admitted Wednesday that the 18-acre former Pillsbury Mills site on Springfield’s north end was the engine that propelled him to a professional life.

Richmond, the president of Moving Pillsbury Forward and the former Springfield fire marshal, also knows it has been “the root cause” of a lot of the demise around the neighborhood.

“It’s a large, blighted piece of property,” Richmond said at a press conference Wednesday in an unlit garage dripping from the outside rain. “We know once we get this property dealt with and removed, it gives the rest of the neighborhood a chance to actually buoy up and shine at a brighter level than it has.”

For Richmond and Moving Pillsbury Forward, the non-profit he helped start up three years ago, the work is just beginning.

Over the weekend, the group was deeded over the property from P Mills LLC for $1.

While Pillsbury has been “a tragic story” for the last decade and a half, Richmond said Wednesday he hoped MPF has turned a corner.

One of the first “next steps,” Richmond said, was contracting with an environmental firm within the next 30 days. By fall, Richmond is hoping to have a final report that will give MPF a roadmap of how to deal with the remediation and demolition activities moving ahead.

Read the full article at SJ-R.com…