Pullman National Monument and State Historic Site, Chicago

2022 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award for Rehabilitation

The National Park Service, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, National Park Foundation, Positioning Pullman Project Team and Historic Pullman Foundation are being honored for their collective decades of community advocacy and commitment to preserving the historic factory town of Pullman on Chicago’s South Side. A $35 million renovation transformed the long-abandoned Pullman Administration Clock Tower Building and surrounding 12-acre factory grounds into the new visitor center and landscape for Pullman National Monument and State Historic Site. The project demonstrates the commitment of its community partners to complement the preservation of history with economic growth and opportunity.

The former Pullman Company Administration Clock Tower Building and Factory Grounds were completed in 1880 and designed by Chicago architect Solon Beman. The factory complex and the surrounding Town of Pullman have a complicated history. Built by industrialist George Pullman to house operations and workers for his Pullman Palace Car Company, the project was one of the first applications of industrial technology and mass production in the construction of a large-scale integrated  manufacturing/residential complex, was home to the scene of the 1894 Pullman Strike and is the first successful negotiation of a bargaining unit agreement between a Black union (the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters) and a major U.S. corporation (the Pullman Company).

The Administration Clock Tower Building and Factory Grounds were purchased by the State of Illinois and made a State Historic Site in 1991. After near destruction in a fire in 1998, the State of Illinois completed a $3.4 million stabilization in 2005, preserving the building to await a more viable reuse. President Barack Obama designated Pullman a National Monument in 2015, breathing new life into efforts to rehabilitate the Administration Clock Tower Building. The site is on pace to exceed the anticipated 300,000 visitors annually and is introducing visitors to the community’s rich history and other amenities.

(Photo credit: Pullman National Monument)

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

Teri Gage, Pullman National Monument
Kathleen Schneider, Pullman National Monument
Sue Bennett, Pullman National Monument
Todd Ravesloot, Pullman National Monument
Phil Lawrence, Denver Service Center
Chris McKenna, Denver Service Center
Victoria Nosal, Denver Service Center
Ron Shields, Denver Service Center
Tim Schilling, Midwest Archeological Center

ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES

Colleen Callahan, Director
Erick Huck, Chief of Statewide Operations
Ryan Prehn, Chief of Park & Recreation
Laura Verden, Regional Landscape Architect
Levi Bray, Site Superintendent
Martin Tuohy, Site Services Specialist
Dawn Cobb, Archaeologist
Todd Hall, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Anthony Rubano, Illinois State Historic Preservation Office
Anna Margaret Barris, , Illinois State Historic Preservation Office
Robert J. Watson, Commonwealth Heritage Group

CHICAGO NEIGHBORHOOD INITIATIVES

David Doig, President
Jennifer Bransfield, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel

NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION

William Shafroth, President and CEO
Pritzker Traubert Foundation
Fund II Foundation
Union Pacific Foundation
Ms. Karen Jones Squires and Mr. Jim Squires
Ellen S. Alberding and Kelly R. Welsh
Chapman Hanson Foundation
Chicago Department of Planning and Development
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Robert R. McCormick Foundation
Barbara M. Neal
Brien M. O’Brien and Mary Hasten
Searle Funds at the Chicago Community Trust
The Joyce Foundation
Walmart

POSITIONING PULLMAN

National Parks Conservation Association
AIA Chicago
Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
Chicago Community Trust
Alphawood Foundation
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
BauerLatoza Studio, Ltd.
Site Design Group
Sam Schwartz Engineering

HISTORIC PULLMAN FOUNDATION

Joseph Szabo, President
Julian Jackson, Executive Director
Michael and Pat Shymanski

OTHER KEY STAKEHOLDERS

U.S. Senator Richard Durbin
U.S. Representative Robin Kelly
Elgie R. Sims, Jr., Illinois State Senator, 17th District
Nicholas K. Smith, Illinois State Representative, 34th District
Alderman Anthony A. Beale, Chicago 9th Ward
David A. Peterson Jr., National A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum
Dr. Lyn Hughes, National A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum

DESIGN TEAM

Historic Preservation Architecture, Team Lead: BauerLatoza Studio, Ltd.
Site Design Lead: Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
Landscape Architecture: Site Design Group
Cultural Landscape: Quinn Evans
Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Technology Engineering: WSP USA
Historic Preservation Specialist, Structural Engineering: Stephen J. Kelley, Inc
Structural Engineering: ALO Engineering
Civil Engineering: SPACECO, Inc.
Environmental Engineering: DAI Environmental, Inc.

CONSTRUCTION TEAM

Owner’s Representative: CRH Advisors LLC | Daccord LLC
Site Supervisor: SPACECO, Inc.
General Contractor: W.E. O’Neil
GMA Construction Group

(Photo credit: Pullman National Monument)

LI ASKS: WHY IS THIS PLACE IMPORTANT TO YOU?

Teri Gage, National Park Service, Superintendent, Pullman National Monument

Pullman is a microcosm of American history. It is the most widely recognized model planned industrial community in the United States.  It set the stage for two watershed moments in the American labor movement:  the 1894 Pullman Strike and subsequent railway boycott, and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters’ successful negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement with the Pullman Company in 1937.  Two events that changed the American labor landscape, demonstrating the power a union could have against an industry while also affirming the right of government to intervene against strikes. These stories can be interpreted through the historic structures and landscape and the life stories of the people who worked and lived in Pullman.

(Photo credit: Pullman National Monument)

HOW DID SAVING THIS PLACE IMPACT PEOPLE IN YOUR COMMUNITY?

Teri Gage, National Park Service, Superintendent, Pullman National Monument

The National Monument and State Historic Site have created critical opportunities to connect hundreds of thousands of people to culture, the outdoors and America’s history. It has also created new jobs and other economic opportunities that are strengthening the local economy. During construction alone, the project created more than 150 jobs, representing approximately $17 million in wages and $43 million in economic output.

The Visitor Center and Factory Grounds are the latest manifestation of the community’s revitalization plan. Pullman National Monument is drawing visitors and national attention, created scores of new jobs and $43 million in economic output. Additionally, since opening last September, more than $60 million in funds has already been allocated for infrastructure and transportation improvements in the area which will benefit more than 50,000 local residents and create additional economic opportunities in the region. Efforts are also underway to develop a new hotel on the remaining two-and-a half acres of the former Ryerson Steel site near the Visitor Center, which will help attract more people and businesses to the community and create more jobs.

The successful renovation of the Pullman Administration Clock Tower Building is critical to planned future renovations of the Hotel Florence, Market Hall, Pullman Firehouse and other historic buildings. These properties will become new assets for visitors and the community. Together they will support more than 300 new jobs, representing more than $15 million in new wages and produce $40 million in sustained economic output for the community.

The many property owners and local organizations within the community continue to work closely with the National Park Service, State of Illinois, City of Chicago and others to restore, protect and interpret the historic neighborhood. Improvements to the aging 111th Street/Pullman station and transportation connections to one of Chicago’s top tourist attractions, Millennium Park, have already been made to bring more people into the community. Additionally, as part of the Positioning Pullman effort, AIA Chicago, the National Parks Conservation Association, the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Chicago Community Trust and Alphawood Foundation engaged with the Pullman community to create a vision for what Pullman could be, to enhance the park visitor experience and advance community and economic development goals that will also strengthen the neighboring Roseland neighborhood and Calumet region.

(Photo credit: BauerLatoza Studio)