Group Imagines A Future Pullman Historic District National Park

By Kate Shepherd in News on Oct 29, 2015 5:41PM

AIA Chicago

It's been over eight months since President Obama returned to Chicago to designate the Pullman Historic District as a National Monument. Even King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands visited the site this summer.

Now there are plans in the works for a new monument campus. The American Institute of Architects Chicago and the National Parks Conservation Association have released a blueprint, "Positioning Pullman".

The blueprint comes from a three-day community design workshop held in April which gave the public a chance to engage in discussions about the park's future.

The renderings of what the park would look based on the ideas like are below:

AIA Chicago

AIA Chicago

It's an ambitious project that would bring the site's history as the Pullman Palace Car Company back to life for visitors through tours and reuse of the historic buildings. They've even been considering a way to arrive at the park on a commuter train featuring historic Pullman train cars.

Redeveloping the neighborhood is one of the plan's goals. They're hoping to increase tourism to the area, which would help local businesses. Organizers also want to provide jobs for local youth and to physically and economically tie Pullman into Lake Calumet initiatives. There are also plans to provide lunches in a restored Pullman car and showing movies with a connection to Pullman on a blank wall.

It will cost a lot of time and money to pull this proposal off. It would cost over $250 million and take several years to build, according to Curbed.