SOUTH CHICAGO – Neighbors who have witnessed several failed attempts to redevelop the old South Works steel mill want more details about a quantum computing campus planned on the site.
But a month after the project was announced, many details remain to be finalized as officials move “apace” to plan and build the campus, saying the rush is needed because the South Side is currently in a race to build the world’s first industrial-grade quantum computer.
The Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, a 128-acre research and development campus hosted by Silicon Valley technology startup PsiQuantum, is planned on part of the former US Steel South Works site.
The project is to be built on the lakefront between 87th Street and the Calumet River. Project backers in July chose the southeast side as the location for the campus instead of the suburb of Lockport.
The campus’s infrastructure will consist largely of office buildings and a cryogenic facility – a large refrigerator – to maintain the temperatures needed to operate quantum computers, officials said at a public meeting on Wednesday.
The rest of the campus will house human resources development programs and facilities for suppliers of microelectronics, refrigerators and other quantum components, officials said.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a national security agency of the U.S. Department of Defense, also plans to establish a “quantum proving ground” on the South Side to study whether quantum computing can go “from hype to prototype.”
Proponents say quantum computers will benefit Illinois’ “critical industries.”
from agriculture and manufacturing to pharmaceuticals, energy and financial services. However, the technology is still largely in the development phase.
PsiQuantum aims to build a quantum computer with one million “qubits” – the basic unit of quantum computing. A computer with one million qubits is considered the threshold for practical use of quantum computing, but so far only two companies have built quantum processors with more than 1,000 qubits.
“Don’t worry” that Campus will be another broken promise
The Quantum Campus is the latest proposal for the South Works brownfield site, following failed proposals for a film studio campus, a 20,000-home residential neighborhood and the Chicago Lakeside mixed-use development, to name a few.
“I know it’s very difficult for people” to see how many applications for the site have stalled in the past, Angela Tovar, the city’s chief sustainability officer, said last month.
The state’s environmental regulations may have deterred previous developers, but state regulators have “no concerns at this point about how the latest proposal will proceed,” James Jennings, interim director of the Illinois Department of Environmental Protection, said this week.
US Steel was notified in 1997 that the site was “safe for habitation,” Jennings said. The state reaffirmed that determination in 2006 and 2010, he said.
But those approvals also required developers to study the environmental impacts of new construction and potentially obtain new permits, Jennings said. “That’s a significant undertaking” and could explain why previous proposals have stalled, he said.
“But we don’t have that here,” Jennings said. “… The process here offers everything we want for a viable remediation facility.”
Despite Jennings’ assurances, some participants at this week’s meeting remained skeptical that the project could be realized.
The public’s concern is obvious in light of decades of failed plans, said City Councilor Peter Chico (10th). Politicians and residents must work together on a project that “can enhance the Southeast Side forever,” he said.
“That brings us to today, another day that people thought would never come – actual development on this site,” Chico said.
Environmental impact
Given that the city has historically had a concentration of polluting industries on its southeast side and has environmental justice community status, residents are also concerned about the environmental impact of the development once it opens.
The project plans do not include smokestacks or chemical pollutants, and the campus’s power supply would be completely carbon-free, officials said.
The refrigeration technology used in the park is comparable to that used in universities and hospitals across the state, but on a larger scale, said Harley Johnson, deputy director of the quantum campus.
The cryogenic plant’s power requirements, noise and the impact of the cooling process are unlikely to cause problems for neighbors, says Johnson, a professor at the University of Illinois.
“We are thinking of an operation that keeps air and water pollution as low as possible,” he said.
Project renderings show Steelworkers Park and nearby Park No. 566, both located on the former South Works site and intact adjacent to the facility.
Authorities are “determined to keep the parks open to the public,” said Tito Quiñones, interim director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Development.
Who will manage, who will pay – and who will benefit?
The quantum campus will be operated by a public organization owned by the University of Illinois. That organization will be governed by a board that includes representatives from Illinois’ major universities, state government, local nonprofits and private companies, officials said.
City officials said the quantum campus is estimated to cost $9 billion, and sources familiar with the project told Crain’s in May that the campus could attract $20 billion in private investment over the next decade.
Illinois has allocated $500 million for quantum research in its 2025 budget, including up to $140 million to complement the U.S. Department of Defense Research and Development Agency’s investment in the quantum campus.
The city will spend $5 million from its housing and economic development bond on the project, Mayor Brandon Johnson said last month. The mayor also said he was working with Cook County to secure a tax abatement that would assess the property at 10 percent of market value for 10 years, instead of the usual 25 percent.
Residents said they wanted the project to create jobs for local residents and encourage further investment in South Chicago businesses and institutions – especially given the public money being allocated to it.
It has not yet been officially announced how many jobs the campus will bring to the region.
PsiQuantum officials expect at least 150 new jobs to be created over the next five years. These include careers for people with doctorates in quantum physics, as well as jobs in mechanical, optical and electrical engineering, software development and technical laboratory work.
Some question whether it’s realistic to expect the neighborhood’s residents to land high-paying jobs in quantum computing, since only about 20 percent of South Chicago residents have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 42 percent citywide.
According to officials, the city will work with Chicago Public Schools, City Colleges and local universities such as the University of Chicago to develop a path to prepare local residents to work in the quantum computing industry.
The South Works Collective Bargaining Agreement Coalition called for a community benefit agreement related to any development on the site. The Southeast Siders Coalition has existed for more than a decade, when the Lakeside development was still being considered.
Neither elected officials nor project sponsors have shown much interest in such an agreement. When asked Wednesday, Tom Anderson, the mayor’s economic development director, said it was “too early in the process” to commit to one.
“All options are still on the table” to ensure the benefit to the community, Anderson said.
The mayor would not commit to signing an agreement last month, but he was “happy to have that conversation with residents,” he told the Block Club.
“A quick process”
Talks about locating PsiQuantum in Illinois began six to eight months ago, Anderson said, and on July 25, the South Side was announced as the project’s location.
The project plans have not been “fully developed” during this time, and there is “still an enormous opportunity” for neighbors to help shape the development, Anderson said.
“The first site that comes online, in terms of a utility-scale quantum computer, is going to be the site that attracts all of that investment, whether it’s from academia or private,” he said. “The state has certainly pushed a rapid process. The city has pushed a rapid process along with the county.”
“We’re asking a lot of this community and this project, but I want to take a moment to let people realize that because of the international momentum of this technology, it’s so important for us to act quickly to get this site up and running.”
The next community meeting is planned for early fall, officials said.
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