Officials break ground for Illinois quantum campus at old US Steel plant site on South Side
CHICAGO (WLS) -- There was a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday afternoon for the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park.
It will be built along Chicago's far South Shore.
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The facility will occupy the site of Chicago's former U.S. Steel plant.
Just off South Shore Drive, around 89th street, officials broke ground Tuesday.
Supporters of the project say it will become a key technology center in the Midwest.
Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson were among those in attendance.
IBM is expected to anchor the quantum computing campus.
Officials say the multi-billion-dollar facility will be about 300-thousand-square-feet, and employ up to 150 people within five years.
Some who live nearby are eager to see development that includes the community.
They want the state and the developer to sign a Community Benefits Agreement.
"Looking to meet with the governor and the developer, Related Midwest, to make sure that this development actually benefits the community," said Amalia NietoGomez, with Alliance of the SouthEast.
The Coalition for a South Works CBA wants to make sure the residents and workers are safe, those living in the area could have career options and those who live there can stay there.
"Don't go to this area and bring everyone in to work and build and everything. There are people right in the backyard, right all around here that you can tap. You can't say they don't have the credentials because they do," resident Freddie Batchelor said.
"I want the people walking by my store to have more dollars in their pockets and and want fewer people walking by looking to get dollars," business owner Clifton Muhammad said.
Others are concerned about possible pollutants in the area.
"I have a four-flat, and I have five children in my building. I don't want them coming up with mysterious cancers 10, 20, 30 years from now because they breathed some of that construction dust," said A. Anne Holcomb, with Environment Transportation Health and Open Space.
Mary Jones grew up in the area and recalls a thriving community with the steel jobs. As part of the Coalition, she is most concerned with residents being displaced.
"If our tax dollars are being paid, then we should have something that is going to help us stay in our homes," Jones said.
This is the first phase of an anticipated technology district called Quantum Shore Chicago.
Residents hope to be brought onboard as this area begins a new chapter.
