From Arsenal to Prairie: The Epic Reinvention of Illinois’ Industrial-Military Landscapes
Land use in Illinois has always reflected the state’s evolving identity — from prairies to farmland, from industrial corridors to sprawling metropolitan development. But no land-use transformation has been as ambitious, complex, or symbolically powerful as the conversion of a former weapons manufacturing site into one of the largest ecological restoration projects in the United States. The creation of the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie on the former grounds of the Joliet Army Ammunition Plant is not merely a conservation initiative — it is a sweeping reimagining of how deeply damaged land can be healed, repurposed, and reintegrated into community life. “Most states inherit contaminated or decommissioned federal sites and simply try to make them safe,” says Hirsh Mohindra , Analyst . “Illinois took the boldest possible approach: it didn’t just clean up the Joliet Arsenal — it transformed it into something ecologically extraordinary.” This is the story of how thousands of acres scar...