Governor Quinn Breaks Ground on New Pullman Community Center in Chicago

CHICAGO – Governor Pat Quinn today was joined by city officials, community leaders and representatives of the Chicago Bears and Chicago Cubs to break ground on the new Pullman Community Center. Designed to be a center of community life, the facility will be a home to meetings, exhibitions and sporting events in Chicago’s south side. Today’s event is part of Governor Quinn’s agenda to create jobs and drive economic development in every part of Illinois.

“Today’s groundbreaking is an investment in the future of Chicago’s youth and the future of the Pullman and Roseland areas,” Governor Quinn said. “It’s places like the Pullman Community Center that give our children a space to develop their talents and stay off the streets year-round. This center will be an important anchor for Chicago’s south side for many years to come.”

The $15 million, 138,000-square-foot Pullman Community Center will be located on a 12-acre parcel of land at 104th Street and Woodland Avenue. The center will also provide the community with three full-sized indoor multi-sport fields, making it the only facility on southeast side of Chicago to offer year-round play. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity provided a $4.9 million investment for the center.

Approximately $9 million of the $15 million in funding for the development has been secured with investments by Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI) and grants from the state of Illinois, U.S. Bank, Major League Baseball and the National Football League. The center will also employ as many as 100 full and part-time employees.

“Pullman and the Calumet basin that surround it reveal a great story of vision and tenacity. Old and new residents have successfully worked to reclaim and revitalize housing, attract manufacturing and retail while protecting the environmental riches that make the area unique,” Alderman Anthony Beale said. “We are thrilled that Governor Quinn, the Bears and the Cubs recognize the great progress made here and together are investing in the center to ensure we continue that trajectory into the future.”

“It is appropriate that Pullman is the site of the city’s premier indoor/outdoor year round community and sports facility. In 1880 George Pullman founded the community as a model of work, education and cultural life. 134 years later, we’re again creating a complete community but doing it better, with the people who live here,” CNI President David Doig said. “Together this community is rebuilding the housing, attracting the companies, strengthening education, retail and transportation. This Center celebrates what we have accomplished and paves the way for the future.”