In 2010, when social enterprise Bubbly Dynamics LLC purchased a vacant former meatpacking facility at the edge of the old Union Stock Yards of Chicago, its leadership recognized the urgent need to designate space in the building to tell the story of the packinghouses, stockyards, and adjacent neighborhoods. After the Union Stock Yards closed in 1971, there was no local movement to preserve and interpret the history of the meatpacking industry and the cultural heritage of surrounding neighborhoods whose workers powered the stockyards. The legacy of the Stock Yards’ important role in Chicago history, and its national significance, was at risk of being lost; it felt imperative to include even a modest museum within the redevelopment of the old packinghouse.
Constructed in 1925, the former pork-packing facility had been operational for over seventy-five years, well after closure of the Union Stock Yards. Then in 2007, the business consolidated with its Indiana-based sister company, and several hundred jobs were lost overnight. The building was sealed up well, fortunately, protecting the interior, and it was marketed as a “strip and rip,” with the assumption that whoever bought it would scrap the valuable parts of the building (stainless steel, copper) and tear it down to build something new.
However, Bubbly Dynamics, a tiny company focused on incubating small businesses in formerly vacant, industrial buildings, was seeking a new facility for food production. John Edel, the company’s owner and a licensed general contractor, saw tremendous value in this USDA-grade facility, with its aseptic surfaces, floor drains, and dairy brick floors that could accommodate heavy loads. The embodied energy of this three-story, 95,000-square foot building was massive, while it would be cost-prohibitive to construct a comparable food-grade facility.
The Bubbly Dynamics team reinvented the building, now known as The Plant, as a modern-day food production hub focused on resource and energy efficiencies. The company’s renovation approach is to salvage and creatively reuse materials that might otherwise be considered waste. Careful attention was given to reflect the building’s past use as a meatpacking facility, dramatically contrasting original building elements and features against new materials and celebrating flaws or irregularities in the building that demonstrated the “work” that was done by the structure in its packinghouse days.
Early in the building’s redevelopment, Edel recruited Chicago historian Dominic Pacyga to curate and contribute to what would eventually be called the Packingtown Museum. Pacyga is professor emeritus of history at Columbia College, and he wrote multiple books on Chicago history, including one about the Stock Yards. He grew up in the adjacent residential neighborhood called Back of the Yards, and he worked in the Stock Yards as well, making him uniquely positioned to direct the museum effort.
Planning for the museum began in 2017, with a volunteer steering committee of preservationists, historians, and community stakeholders joining together to guide the museum’s development. Ivan Guzman joined the team as an intern; a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Museum and Exhibition Studies department, Guzman assisted with research, producing the exhibits, and other curatorial tasks. Multiple “sneak peeks” during events at The Plant, encouraged neighborhood stakeholders and casual visitors alike to provide input. The museum soft-launched in 2019, with its grand opening in 2021 after Covid vaccinations became available.
The main space of the Packingtown Museum is a former ham freezer and the only publicly accessible room in the building with the original meat rail system used to transport pork products through the facility. Restroom enclosures were constructed from former stainless steel smokehouses, with their gas nozzles, meat rail elements, and gasketed doors, providing a glimpse into smokehouse infrastructure. Elsewhere in the building, smoke-stained, heat-damaged walls and ceilings of terra cotta smokehouses contrast with brightly colored, modern furniture; giant planters were constructed from air intakes; and simply designed custom lighting appears to grow organically over the beautiful damage of the smokehouse surfaces.
Today, the Packingtown Museum provides a unique opportunity to connect Chicago’s industrial past to its future and inform contemporary conversations about labor, immigration, food production, community development, and the economy. The museum’s themes stretch far beyond local history, addressing important topics including labor rights and the fight for the eight-hour work day; immigration history, as the Back of the Yards neighborhood was a landing pad for every wave of immigrants arriving in Chicago from the late 1800s to the present day; and the importance of the rail system in the United States until the Interstate Highways became the dominant transportation network. The museum is free and open to the public during limited but regular hours of operation and by appointment; it benefits from its co-location inside The Plant, with a built-in visitor base, rather than as a stand-alone facility.
Visitors include neighborhood school and church groups, university classes, individuals from around the world with family connections to or a general interest in the meatpacking industry, advocates for unions and labor rights, local food enthusiasts, and many other interest groups. Teachers and professors with curricula addressing Chicago history; Upton Sinclair’s realistic fiction The Jungle, the 1906 exposé of poor working conditions in the meatpacking industry, told from the perspective of a Lithuanian immigrant family; architecture, engineering, and design; and sustainable practices of all kinds are drawn to the Packingtown Museum and The Plant for an interesting and immersive experience for their students.
Interestingly, given that the Union Stock Yards closed over 50 years ago, recent arrivals to Back of the Yards and young Chicago residents are often not aware that the “Yards” in the name of the neighborhood refers to the Stock Yards. As such, the museum team has interpreted the task of connecting the past to the present in creative ways; several key exhibits are intended to engage young visitors and community residents by contextualizing neighborhood dynamics. For example, while a nearby German church was demolished, its school survived and is now a majority Hispanic public high school, with a culinary program from which numerous employees at The Plant have been recruited; telling the stories of the past and present in a single exhibit appeals to multiple audiences.
A significant challenge with Packingtown Museum’s example of citizen action to preserve public history is that the effort was driven by the mission-driven for-profit company whose facility houses the museum. The social enterprise has limited budget and staff to dedicate to the museum’s operations, and no access to funding that otherwise might be available for non-profits. Contributions to the museum effort are not tax-exempt, and the museum does not hold a physical collection. Transitioning the museum into a stand-alone non-profit is in consideration; however, this step would take considerable effort, time, resources, and people-power.
In the meantime, Bubbly Dynamics supports the day-to-day operations of the Packingtown Museum with its own staff to facilitate entry and answer questions. Curator Dominic Pacyga continues guiding new and revised exhibits, as well as programming. The museum’s former intern, Ivan Guzman, remains deeply involved and has grown into the role of assistant curator. Despite the ongoing enthusiasm, the team recognizes the inherent risk of its reliance on these volunteers and Bubbly Dynamics’ staff.
Next steps include renewing efforts to engage and collaborate with neighborhood residents and the existing network of community institutions. The initial connection with Back of the Yards residents dissipated during Covid, when a key volunteer and neighborhood representative transitioned off the planning committee and was not successful in identifying a replacement from the community. The museum team has observed the need for a low-tech approach to promotion, shifting away from social media and electronic communications toward printed materials like flyers and direct outreach to neighborhood schools, libraries, and other institutions. Bilingual English/Spanish messaging is also critical. Expanding the exhibit called People of the Stock Yards is an ongoing effort, with relatable descriptions of the diverse, ever-changing immigrant experience.
Promoting the Packingtown Museum beyond the immediate neighborhood is also necessary for its success. The museum has received a good amount of press and has landed on the radar of Chicago’s tourist bureau, which accounts for many of its international visitors in particular. Additionally, just as the Packingtown Museum benefits from location at The Plant, the team recognizes the opportunity to co-locate elsewhere via a temporary, portable exhibit designed to pop up in public/semipublic places such as libraries, schools, conference facilities, or transportation centers. Bringing history to the public itself could be an effective approach to drawing attention to the museum and garnering interest.
Given the more general trend in the Chicago area to demolish industrial heritage (e.g. South Works, Western Electric, Stewart-Warner) rather than preserve (and possibly repurpose) it, the collaborations that created Packingtown Museum are particularly laudable. The case also highlights difficulties that most small cultural organizations face in terms of outreach and funding. Community engagement is of course key to solving those problems. I also note the potential for off-site (in-school) programming, perhaps by a corps of volunteer interpreters (a model that has worked for other small cultural orgs in the US), although the immersive experience of the processing plant and the rich social history of the neighborhood present dramatic opportunities that ought to be well-used.
This is a very interesting case study Carolee. Building on what Kevin asked, here are some brief thoughts. First, it is telling that the very history of the “Yards” is not something widely known at a basic level in the area. Some thoughts as I read this. Does Chicago history get taught in schools? Does Illinois history – and would that include a section on Chicago? My second point relates to the source of the museum’s creation. I also find this troubling and relatable to what I see in Akron: Why was it that only a company called Bubbly Dynamics recognized the historic importance of the building and not the vast network of historians and historical organizations in Chicago? Is this a fact of deindustrialization generally, that the forces of destruction of physical spaces are stronger than those of preservation? That forgetting is easier and more powerful than remembrance? What does this mean for the challenges of interpreting and teaching the history of deindustrialization in areas that are seemingly quick to keep moving on to the next thing without the “burdens of history” so to speak?
This shows how valuable connections with private industry can be. With the growth of triple-bottom-line businesses, this might be a format for the future preservation of industrial spaces as well as cultural and historical education.
Carolee, I am fascinated by your museum and its inclusion within this for-profit organization. As you know, there is a similar movement happening in High Point, and I suspect in many deindustrializing areas (Pittsburgh?) to make new use of former industrial spaces as community sites. In High Point, a former factory has been rebranded as Congdon Yards, which combines office space, an art gallery, a restaurant, and most importantly an atrium in which many members of the for-profit and nonprofit communities (Including professors) hold meetings. We have considered whether to seek a space in this building for our project, given the centrality of this space within the city’s emerging culture, but your concerns give me pause. I wonder if there are other similarly situated institutions in other cities (or even within Chicago) with which you could network to brainstorm solutions? I’m eager to talk more about your project, and to see it next time I am in Chicago to visit family!
Carolee, this is a fascinating write-up about Las Yardas and the Packingtown Museum! At first glance, it almost reads as if it was just the serendipitous convergence of many factors (the right sort of real estate, with the right buyer in mind, with available interests and buy-in). However, I wonder about the tangible lessons that Packingtown offers future potential areas of industrial preservation. As Kevin noted, it is a common practice in the region to destroy these sites more often than not, often further complicated by the presence/status of brownfield sites that dot the Calumet Region. However, what does the involvement of a dedicated team of volunteers look like? How do these machinations offer examples of fostering community, from small cohorts to engaged community partners? Where can negotiations be made regarding the stories shared, the material preserved, and the educational opportunities forged? Lastly, what sort of mutualistic relationship can metropolitan regions develop in collaborating and sharing these stories? Especially with the presence of Pullman National Park, can we begin to foster partnerships that support traveling exhibits and sharing resources to reconstruct a neighborhood-to-regional story of work and place?
I had the pleasure of visiting the Packingtown Museum in person during my recent research trip in Chicago. (At the Polish Museum of America, as it happens!) Carolee, it is everything you said it is, and more. As I toured the Plant and the museum, I kept thinking of a comment you made earlier to the effect that not every postindustrial city needs to put all its eggs in the technology basket. People need other things too, such as food, culture, and community. I was impressed by the indoor farm at the Plant, which grows microgreens and sells them to restaurants, and the research kitchen, which also serves a delicious daily staff lunch. The museum likewise is making connections in the community through school visits, pop-up locations, and bilingual text in the exhibits.
We’re fortunate to have someone like John, an entrepreneur who recognizes the importance of history and made it part of his project from the beginning. I fear what might happen if a museum owned by a for-profit corporation had a different type of leadership. This line of thought leads me to the importance of fighting for history and the humanities at all levels of education. A student in business or public affairs who minors in history is the kind of ally we’ll need in future projects.
Carolee, this is such an interesting case study, and I am eager to visit the next time I am in Chicago. I think we are so often used to the potentially antagonistic (and often weirdly paternalistic in the pursuit of donations and other financial arrangements) relationship between for-profit business and not-for-profit entities, projects, or goals, that it strikes as particularly remarkable when a company like Bubbly Dynamics intentionally incorporates preservation and reuse in a building plan. I am particularly struck by reusing the food-grade areas of the building as a space for its original built purpose– that just because it is old, does not mean it is not useful.
It reminds me of a development project in Pittsburgh that involved a housing construction company stumbling on the remains of one of the city’s Civil War redoubts. The developer halted construction, reached out to the city’s archeologist, and waited for a report and recommendation. The developer eventually removed two of the proposed houses, brought a team to preserve the redoubt, and traced the footprint of the rest of the redoubt in the pavement. Additionally, the developer paid for interpretive signage in the center of the neighborhood and eventually sold the properties with an additional focus on the community’s stewardship of the site.
Community engagement seems key in your case, especially if that community can extend beyond the immediate neighborhood. Mobile exhibits and local public programming in schools and libraries could work seem right, especially when thinking about tangible, low tech methods of communicating and teaching. I also wonder if facilitating connections with other companies looking to build out in industrial spaces could create potential for a little network of mini-museums or exhibits dotted around the area, thereby expanding the potential for community touchpoints beyond the immediate neighborhood.
It sounds like there are two major challenges: 1) funding structure that ties you to a for-profit company and 2) making connections with the surrounding community. I’m wondering how the first problem impacts interpretation decisions, and what possibilities would be opened up by becoming an independent non-profit. I think this brings up a vital question on the social purpose of museums in a world where information is readily accessible. What does successful community connection look like for your museum? Is it repeat visitation? In what ways do you want the Packingtown Museum to exist in the lives of your community members, and what institution do you see as a model?