U.S. Senator Dick Durbin has announced that Historic Pullman Foundation (HPF) will receive $300,000 toward the stabilization and rehabilitation of Market Hall, one of the historic structures within Pullman National Monument, National Park Service (PNM).
The funding is part of the Fiscal Year 2022 omnibus appropriations bill passed last week by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Joe Biden.
“This appropriations package invests in the future of Illinois,” Durbin said. “The use of Congressionally directed spending provides Members of Congress, who know their states and districts better than federal agency personnel in Washington, with the ability to direct federal funding to priority projects in their communities.” You can read the senator’s press release here.
“We thank Senator Durbin for his partnership and look forward to launching a process for engaging the community as we embark on the stabilization effort and envision how market hall fits the interpretive needs of Pullman National Monument,” said HPF President Joseph C. Szabo.
An essential defining building of the Pullman neighborhood, Market Hall is in critical need of stabilization, preservation, and new construction to return it to productive use by residents and visitors to PNM – Chicago’s only national park. In 2021, HPF became PNM’s official nonprofit partner.
Starting in 1881, Market Hall served as a public market and gathering space at 112th Street and Champlain Avenue for nearly a century. Fire destroyed the original Market Hall structure in 1892. The 3-story replacement building was damaged by two fires – one in 1931 and another in 1973 – leaving it a roofless 1-story structure. HPF purchased it in 1974 to save it from demolition and has maintained the property ever since.
“Action must be taken now to stabilize Market Hall and safeguard it from further deterioration,” said Szabo. “Market Hall is a unique cultural asset and its preservation is essential to enhance PNM visitors’ understanding of its social relevance within the town of #Pullman’s original design.”
