Eight months have passed since community pressure paused the demolition of Chicago’s former Fisk Generating Station. Since then, public updates have been scarce. For residents of Pilsen and surrounding areas, however, the demands and questions surrounding the site are more relevant now than ever.
Fisk sits in Pilsen, a historically working-class neighborhood shaped by generations of Mexican immigrants, many of whom began settling there in larger numbers during the 1960s. This place is home to families, schools, and generations of residents who are all too familiar with the consequences of industrial pollution.
The lack of public information has left organizers and residents to search for their own answers. Community members have continued conducting independent research and demanding that their concerns be formally acknowledged. They are acting with urgency, fearing that if demolition continues, they will bear the greatest risks.
Their public demands are simple: proper environmental testing that is available to the community and a future use for the site that prioritizes residents over corporate interests. Through interviews with residents and organizers, 15 West examined the concerns driving those demands.
View Fisk Demolition Community Demands (Updated 6/11/2026)…