Amid the bricks, soot and other assorted clutter surrounding the fire-ravaged Pullman Factory, this much became clear Wednesday: If the historic Pullman site is to be resurrected into a cultural tourism Mecca, it will take big dollars from Washington.
After a year of meetings, both formal and informal, a government-led task force studying how to rejuvenate the Far South Side site completed its work Wednesday. And its chairman said he will now take his ambitious cause not only to local and state leaders, but to the federal government, as well.
“This can’t get off the ground without a financial commitment from the national government,” said former Illinois Gov. James R. Thompson, Pullman’s longtime champion and task force leader.
Thompson estimated that any project to turn the factory site and nearby Hotel Florence into a major attraction, including an interactive museum and entertainment venue, would cost between $50 million and $80 million. And even if the state and city are financially generous, it still would take tens of millions of dollars from federal coffers to make the Pullman project a success, Thompson said.
On Wednesday, the 27-member task force, appointed jointly by Mayor Richard Daley and Gov. George Ryan, put the final touches on a 12-page report to be delivered to both government leaders. Thompson and others now will lobby Ryan and Daley for money to continue stabilization work on the factory’s administration building, clock tower and assembly sheds.
The report asks that the city and state find an additional $8 million to $11 million to close a funding gap in the stabilization project. In February, Ryan released $10 million in Illinois FIRST funds for the stabilization, including new roofs, windows, doors and a clock tower. Immediate stabilization is considered critical because experts predict the building will deteriorate further if not quickly preserved. The factory was severely damaged by an arson fire in December 1998, which led to the task force being formed.
The building’s poor condition remained evident as task force members toured the site Wednesday morning. Thick steel beams had been installed to fortify leaning walls, red-orange bricks were being salvaged and replaced and new roofs were in place to keep out the elements.
In its report, the task force recommended a full conceptual study be commissioned to develop possible exhibits and attractions. Such studies usually cost between $400,000 and $500,000, the report said.
Over the past year, the task force employed several consultants, who advised members that for a historic Pullman museum project to succeed in the competitive Chicago marketplace, it must include a destination cluster of entertainment, shopping and restaurant options, perhaps even an outdoor music/historic drama theater. Thompson said he envisions interactive exhibits and a trolley system to carry visitors through the Pullman neighborhood.
The report also recommended an archeological investigation of the site, environmental studies and the clearing of trees and shrubs. Additional research also should be done to update the National Historic Landmark nomination, especially to include the contributions of Pullman employees.
The Pullman Historic District, designated a national landmark in 1969, is considered by some historians to be the most important company town in U.S. history. It was constructed in the early 1880s for industrialist George M. Pullman’s rail-car factory and housed more than 12,000 residents.
Pullman also is recognized for its contributions to organized labor and civil rights for African-Americans, who largely inhabited the town and worked in its factory. A workers’ strike resulted in a national railroad boycott in 1894, and breaking the strike established a precedent for federal intervention in labor matters. The factory later became the largest employer of blacks in the nation, and a labor agreement established unprecedented union rights for labor leader A. Philip Randolph and the Pullman Porters, who manned the rail cars they helped assemble.
Task force members and Pullman enthusiasts said it is important to not let the Pullman history fade away.
“This vision is becoming a reality. One can only imagine the future,” said Allison Davis, task force vice chairman.
Not everyone was pleased by the task force’s work, however. Harold L. Lucas, chief executive of the Black Metropolis Convention and Tourism Council, complained that white leaders had usurped black voices in the process.
“This dialogue should have been more inclusive,” said Lucas, to the obvious dismay of some task force members.
But other African-Americans said the task force’s efforts could do nothing but help nearby black neighborhoods suffering the effects of poverty and neglect.
Meanwhile, the effort to restore the factory has helped to unite whites and blacks in the Pullman area, one task force member said.
“There is no longer a North Pullman and a South Pullman–there is one Pullman,” said Gwendolyn Hughes, a Pullman district landlord and resident.
It will take continued unity to make the project a reality, Thompson said. City and state leaders must lobby Congress and the next presidential administration for money, he said. He added he would like to couple a fiscal request for Pullman with a request for a new Lincoln library in Springfield.
