Not your grandfather's South Works
The difference between what the lakeside parcel known as South Works once was and will become illustrates Chicago’s evolution over the modern industrial/technological age. Here's how U.S. Steel South Works plant and the proposed Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park stack up.
• Supplied steel for Chicago buildings, including the Sears Tower — now Willis Tower — and the John Hancock Building • Produced "structural" steel, including steel for rail cars, bridge spans and girders for skyscrapers • Specialized in products like rails and flat-rolled steel • Processed iron ore, coal and limestone into steel
• Creation and commercialization of quantum technologies that have the potential to tackle many of the biggest challenges in health care, energy, transportation, financial services, agriculture and national security
• Will include an industrial-scale cryoplant, the National Quantum Algorithm Center and the nation's first fault-tolerant quantum computers
Source: Crain’s research (South Works data); C-Strategies (IQMP data)
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U.S. Steel South Works
Former U.S. Steel site today
• Created a substantial number of jobs and contributed to Chicago's growth • Closure in 1992 led to widespread job losses and economic hardship for the South Side • Site underwent remediation efforts supervised by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, but issues pose challenges to future development and habitation
• Projected to generate up to $20 billion in economic impact
• Laborers • Heavy machinery operators • Maintenance and repair technicians • Welders • Wire drawing operators • Engineers and specialists • Support services (sales, IT and accounting)
• System operators • Cryogenic plant technicians • Site managers and logistics workers • Finance and sales • Supply chain shipping and receiving • Human resources • Security personnel • Project and program managers • Scientists • Engineers
• 20,000 employees
• 150 at the PsiQuantum, an IQMP tenant on the site
• If fully expanded, the former South Works site could employ thousands of additional employee workers.
• Plus, construction jobs
Number of workers
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Number of workers
Types of jobs
Output
Economic impact