A Rare Visit to the Former U.S. Steel Southworks Site
The U.S. Steel Southworks plant was one of the biggest businesses on Chicago South Side. It took iron ore and processed it into steel, which was then used to make skyscrapers, railroads, bridges and many other structures throughout the city. It would not be an exaggeration that Southworks went a long way toward making Chicago what it is.
It was located in South Chicago neighborhood. It was never a glamorous place, but Southworks kept most of the residents employed. And, because residents had money to spend, local business thrived.
In 1992, U.S. Steel company closed Southworks for good. South Chicago pretty much collapsed as its residents fell into poverty, most other businesses closed, homes fell into disrepair and gang violence exploded. The neighborhood has been trying to get back on its feet ever since. There have been some successes, but it still has ways and ways to go.
Meanwhile, the Southworks plant was demolished, and the site was closed to the public. It passed through several honors, each of which tried to do something with it. Nothing took, and the site remained empty and closed off.
About five years ago, the site fell into the hands of McCaffery Interests, which announced that they would turn Southworks into a new residential neighborhood, complete with a Navy Pier style harbor and large parks by the shore. And when they say "neighborhood," they are talking about some major construction. In terms of total square millage, Southworks is almost as big as Chicago downtown.
Now, like I said - the site is still closed off. But last Wednesday, McCaffery held an open house, allowing everyone to come and take a look at what the company had planned.
I wasn't about to let this opportunity pass by.
Even though it was an open house, McCaffery still had security out and about. Everyone was required to sign in before entering the sales office. Drivers had to give their license plate numbers. And, because the security was always mindful of what South Chicago has become, some interesting signs were posted by the entrance.
But once you were cleared, you could go through a nice outdoor dining area
And into the Sales Center - one of the few structures that survived Southworks' demise
In fact, when I walked back, I noticed a piece of the old plant placed right by the flower bed
Inside, the building that now housed the sales center has been completely renovated. The McCaffery staff told us that it has been upgraded to meet LEED environmental certification standards. A small exhibit summarized the site's history and gave broad outlines of what McCaffery had planned. But most impressively, the sales center had a model of the company's vision for the site.
But when I say "impressive," I don't mean "impressively well thought out." I mean it more in the sense of "designed to impress." Because when I questioned the sales rep, it turned out that they only had the very general ideas of what the development would look like. Even the model was more of an abstract representation than an indication of what the site would actually look like.
There are a few things that are set in stone. The street grid has been finalized and approved by Chicago City Council. There will definitely be a park by the shoreline and an extension of Route 41 running through the development. The parks would form the link to the largely uninterrupted chain of parks by the lakeshore, and Route 41 would basically extend Lake Shore Drive toward the edge of the city (Lake Shore Drive being one of the major Chicago highways and the one CHicago-based car commuters tend to use the most). Here is the thing about both of those projects, though - they are being done by the City of Chicago rather than McCaffery's, so they'll be there regardless of anything McCaffery has planned.
McCaffery rep said that the company can't make any plans until they could get some grocery stores (and other retail chains) to agree to come here, and they won't come here until Route 41 extension is finished. And with at least another year to go before that happens, MCCaffrey is stuck in the holding pattern.
The rep did tell the visitors that they would try to get a charter school chain to open a location on their development. And, most importantly for the South Chicago residents that attended the Open House, she said that the new development would include some affordable housing. At least some children and grandchildren of old Southworks employees would be able to move there.
But the coolest thing about the entire Open House was that McCaffery offered tours of the Southworks site. They got a trolley-style bus that took visitors around once every 15-20 minutes. The bus only went to parts of the site, and it only stopped at a few places, but it was still a chance to actually see at least parts of Southworks with my own two eyes. So, when the McCaffery staff started calling people for the next tour, I couldn't get on the bus fast enough.
Now, here is the thing about Southworks. Just because the plant was torn down doesn't mean nothing remained. And the one lasting remnant of the site's past are the ore retaining walls
When the iron ore was brought in (either by train or by boat), it was deposited there until they could be processed. Those walls were built over a century ago, and, like many things built back in those days, they were designed to last. When U.S. Steel tried to blow them up, they only managed to damage a small section. Even looking from a distance, those structures are impressive. Up close, they are downright awe-inspiring
Just to give you some sense of scale, here is a person stepping inside the retaining wall
There are four retaining walls total. McCaffery plans to demolish all but one (the one furthest from the harbor). When I asked the tour guide how McCaffery planned to succeed where U.S. Steel failed, she just shrugged and told me that it wasn't her area of expertise.
The tour bus made a stop at the harbor
And, as the earlier picture may have tipped you off, we were allowed to climb inside the retaining wall. The tour guide said that workers used those spaces to hide out during bad weather. Inside, some damage was readily apperant
But other parts held up remarkably well
I even saw some personal touches - like this bit of graffiti commemorating the American bicentennial
And to think that McCaffrey wants to demolish it... Honestly - if I were in charge, I would have left the retaining walls alone and built a park around them.
I waned to explore the retaining walls a bit more detail, but the tour had a schedule to keep, so off we went
The trolley crossed to the other side of the harbor, where we went up the incline, passing a few other surviving pieces of the Southworks plant along the way
Once we were on the incline, we followed what could be described as the road in the fairly loose sense of the word. I had no idea what it was before Southworks was torn down, but it sure looked interesting in pictures
After Southworks was demolished, the site was largely left to its own devices, and plants grew unabated. After 20 years, some parts almost looked like pieces of the forest
While the other parts, if nothing else, showed that nature was very persistent in the face of decades of construction, creating fascinating landscapes you'd be hard-pressed to see anywhere else
Eventually, we made it to the shoreline, where the Chicago Park District has already started working on building proper parks.
But they still have a lot to get through
Finally, the tourbus stopped at the northeastern edge of Southworks, where Chicago skyline was plainly visible. Everyone was invited to get out and take picture. The implicit message was clear - someday, you might have a chance to buy a house/condo with this view
I also took some shots of the surrounding future parkland
But we couldn't stay here for long, either. After taking some shots, we were asked to get back on board, and the bus went back the way it came from. So I took this opportunity to get some shots of Lake Michigan
The building in the distance are still-functioning steel meals in East Chicago (Indiana) and Gary (also Indiana)
And I also got a few more shots of the ore walls
Before I left, I asked the McCaffery staff for permission to climb one of the observation towers and took a few more general shots of the area
In the end...The fact that there weren't much in the way of solid plans disappointed me, but that disappointment was quickly washed away once I got a chance to see the Southworks site. I really wish I could have stayed longer. hell, I wish I could have had a chance to study every centimeter of the site. But, given what I had to work with, I'm grateful for the shots I did manage to get.
Who knows when I'll have an opportunity to do anything like this again.
But I do hope that, next time, McCaffery would have better answers. The people of South Chicago deserve nothing less.
It was located in South Chicago neighborhood. It was never a glamorous place, but Southworks kept most of the residents employed. And, because residents had money to spend, local business thrived.
In 1992, U.S. Steel company closed Southworks for good. South Chicago pretty much collapsed as its residents fell into poverty, most other businesses closed, homes fell into disrepair and gang violence exploded. The neighborhood has been trying to get back on its feet ever since. There have been some successes, but it still has ways and ways to go.
Meanwhile, the Southworks plant was demolished, and the site was closed to the public. It passed through several honors, each of which tried to do something with it. Nothing took, and the site remained empty and closed off.
About five years ago, the site fell into the hands of McCaffery Interests, which announced that they would turn Southworks into a new residential neighborhood, complete with a Navy Pier style harbor and large parks by the shore. And when they say "neighborhood," they are talking about some major construction. In terms of total square millage, Southworks is almost as big as Chicago downtown.
Now, like I said - the site is still closed off. But last Wednesday, McCaffery held an open house, allowing everyone to come and take a look at what the company had planned.
I wasn't about to let this opportunity pass by.
Even though it was an open house, McCaffery still had security out and about. Everyone was required to sign in before entering the sales office. Drivers had to give their license plate numbers. And, because the security was always mindful of what South Chicago has become, some interesting signs were posted by the entrance.
But once you were cleared, you could go through a nice outdoor dining area
And into the Sales Center - one of the few structures that survived Southworks' demise
In fact, when I walked back, I noticed a piece of the old plant placed right by the flower bed
Inside, the building that now housed the sales center has been completely renovated. The McCaffery staff told us that it has been upgraded to meet LEED environmental certification standards. A small exhibit summarized the site's history and gave broad outlines of what McCaffery had planned. But most impressively, the sales center had a model of the company's vision for the site.
But when I say "impressive," I don't mean "impressively well thought out." I mean it more in the sense of "designed to impress." Because when I questioned the sales rep, it turned out that they only had the very general ideas of what the development would look like. Even the model was more of an abstract representation than an indication of what the site would actually look like.
There are a few things that are set in stone. The street grid has been finalized and approved by Chicago City Council. There will definitely be a park by the shoreline and an extension of Route 41 running through the development. The parks would form the link to the largely uninterrupted chain of parks by the lakeshore, and Route 41 would basically extend Lake Shore Drive toward the edge of the city (Lake Shore Drive being one of the major Chicago highways and the one CHicago-based car commuters tend to use the most). Here is the thing about both of those projects, though - they are being done by the City of Chicago rather than McCaffery's, so they'll be there regardless of anything McCaffery has planned.
McCaffery rep said that the company can't make any plans until they could get some grocery stores (and other retail chains) to agree to come here, and they won't come here until Route 41 extension is finished. And with at least another year to go before that happens, MCCaffrey is stuck in the holding pattern.
The rep did tell the visitors that they would try to get a charter school chain to open a location on their development. And, most importantly for the South Chicago residents that attended the Open House, she said that the new development would include some affordable housing. At least some children and grandchildren of old Southworks employees would be able to move there.
But the coolest thing about the entire Open House was that McCaffery offered tours of the Southworks site. They got a trolley-style bus that took visitors around once every 15-20 minutes. The bus only went to parts of the site, and it only stopped at a few places, but it was still a chance to actually see at least parts of Southworks with my own two eyes. So, when the McCaffery staff started calling people for the next tour, I couldn't get on the bus fast enough.
Now, here is the thing about Southworks. Just because the plant was torn down doesn't mean nothing remained. And the one lasting remnant of the site's past are the ore retaining walls
When the iron ore was brought in (either by train or by boat), it was deposited there until they could be processed. Those walls were built over a century ago, and, like many things built back in those days, they were designed to last. When U.S. Steel tried to blow them up, they only managed to damage a small section. Even looking from a distance, those structures are impressive. Up close, they are downright awe-inspiring
Just to give you some sense of scale, here is a person stepping inside the retaining wall
There are four retaining walls total. McCaffery plans to demolish all but one (the one furthest from the harbor). When I asked the tour guide how McCaffery planned to succeed where U.S. Steel failed, she just shrugged and told me that it wasn't her area of expertise.
The tour bus made a stop at the harbor
And, as the earlier picture may have tipped you off, we were allowed to climb inside the retaining wall. The tour guide said that workers used those spaces to hide out during bad weather. Inside, some damage was readily apperant
But other parts held up remarkably well
I even saw some personal touches - like this bit of graffiti commemorating the American bicentennial
And to think that McCaffrey wants to demolish it... Honestly - if I were in charge, I would have left the retaining walls alone and built a park around them.
I waned to explore the retaining walls a bit more detail, but the tour had a schedule to keep, so off we went
The trolley crossed to the other side of the harbor, where we went up the incline, passing a few other surviving pieces of the Southworks plant along the way
Once we were on the incline, we followed what could be described as the road in the fairly loose sense of the word. I had no idea what it was before Southworks was torn down, but it sure looked interesting in pictures
After Southworks was demolished, the site was largely left to its own devices, and plants grew unabated. After 20 years, some parts almost looked like pieces of the forest
While the other parts, if nothing else, showed that nature was very persistent in the face of decades of construction, creating fascinating landscapes you'd be hard-pressed to see anywhere else
Eventually, we made it to the shoreline, where the Chicago Park District has already started working on building proper parks.
But they still have a lot to get through
Finally, the tourbus stopped at the northeastern edge of Southworks, where Chicago skyline was plainly visible. Everyone was invited to get out and take picture. The implicit message was clear - someday, you might have a chance to buy a house/condo with this view
I also took some shots of the surrounding future parkland
But we couldn't stay here for long, either. After taking some shots, we were asked to get back on board, and the bus went back the way it came from. So I took this opportunity to get some shots of Lake Michigan
The building in the distance are still-functioning steel meals in East Chicago (Indiana) and Gary (also Indiana)
And I also got a few more shots of the ore walls
Before I left, I asked the McCaffery staff for permission to climb one of the observation towers and took a few more general shots of the area
In the end...The fact that there weren't much in the way of solid plans disappointed me, but that disappointment was quickly washed away once I got a chance to see the Southworks site. I really wish I could have stayed longer. hell, I wish I could have had a chance to study every centimeter of the site. But, given what I had to work with, I'm grateful for the shots I did manage to get.
Who knows when I'll have an opportunity to do anything like this again.
But I do hope that, next time, McCaffery would have better answers. The people of South Chicago deserve nothing less.