SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — Moving Pillsbury Forward is thanking their Pillsbury Project volunteers for their efforts in 2022.
In a news release sent out Wednesday, Moving Pillsbury Forward president Chris Richmond said volunteers contributed the equivalent of $158,000 in on-site labor costs during 2022 for work on the former Springfield plant.
The estimation came from three different avenues of volunteer work: cleaning and preparing the site for demolition, mowing and maintaining the front yard of the property, and cleaning out the building.
Richmond also thanked the off-site volunteers for doing tasks like legal work, communications and grant writing.
The non-profit bought the land to the former factory in March and had an environmental impact assessment in October showing there were only trace amounts of toxic materials on the site. Demolition of the site started in December, and is estimated to take three years.
Pillsbury Mills opened in 1929 and employed more than 1,500 people at once. The site has not been used since 2001. According to the Sangamon County Historical Society, the factory underwent three major renovations in the 20th century.