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Thieves and Tresspass

 Friends,

We generally try to keep things positive regarding the overall Pillsbury Project.  We have many good things happening: 200 tons of brick recycling, street art, historic tours, an ever growing employee names wall, neighborhood garden, and a new micro-pantry that has over 100 pounds of food donated and distributed to those in need every week. All good stuff.

The not-so-good stuff is dealing with the recently increasing incidents of trespass and metal thieves at the site. Unfortunately, we have had to make several police reports of incidents these past few weeks. And we have had to take time and efforts to repair fence holes, more tightly secure potential entry areas, and take on-site safety measures that slow our progress.

Yes…the Spring weather may have something to do with it.  And yes…we know the site has a few attractive features that some people just cannot resist…even at the risk of their own safety.  And…yes…this has been going on for over 20 years!

This past week late night thieves placed a board out a second floor window to access and steal some of our last remaining copper flashing on the front of Warehouse #7 (see attached photo).  Wow! That is one of the craziest and riskiest things we have seen at the site!

No…these crazy activities don’t overshadow the good things that are happening with the Pillsbury Project. But, occasionally, they do make us take pause and remind ourselves exactly why we are doing it. We don’t want to see anything tragic happen before these structures come down.

Thanks for being a part of this important community project.

~ Team Pillsbury