Great Lakes Now: Where the mouth of the Calumet River meets Lake Michigan on Chicago’s Southeast Side is an abandoned lakefront parcel where one of the world’s largest steel mills once operated. For over 100 years, U.S. Steel South Works provided jobs to over 20,000 Chicagoans at its peak and served as one of the Windy City’s largest employers.

In 1992, South Works closed, leaving behind a legacy of heavy industry and pollution.

Now, Chicago is making a leap forward into the next era of Great Lakes economic development and environmental safety. If plans proceed as anticipated, as early as 2027 this 440-acre property on Lake Shore Drive will be transformed into the first industrial park in the country to focus on developing quantum computing, a much more powerful technology than conventional computing. And true to its location on the shore of Lake Michigan, the $1 billion project also features advanced water use and wastewater treatment technologies that essentially yield no water waste.

“The steel that was used there helped build this country, and now we’re looking at a sector that will help change humanity and answer the most difficult problems that life has to offer,” said Peter Chico, the city’s 10^th Ward alderman, in an interview with Circle of Blue. “And it’s happening on the Southeast Side. In the 10th Ward. Thirty years of having a vacant piece of property. That is humongous.”

Chico sees himself as the gatekeeper of this property due to his unique connection to the Southeast Side’s steel legacy. A lifelong resident of the Southeast Side, Chico’s grandfather was also the president of Local 65, the steelworkers union for South Works.

“What I often talk about is the intersection of my grandfather and the industry of the old and his grandson welcoming the industry of the future, which is quantum,” Chico said.

But as Chico and the city’s other influencers promote the quantum hub, Southeast Side activist groups like the Alliance of the Southeast (ASE) feel they have more questions than answers about how IQMP will affect their community.

Among a suite of questions that residents have about the campus, environmental remediation and water usage remain top concerns, according to ASE executive director, Amalia NietoGomez.

“We already have a whole lot of pollution, and this is into our drinking water,” NietoGomez said. “So how are [IQMP developers] going to protect that?”

Onward With Quantum Development

The collaboration between government, academia, and the private sector to develop the new technology sector fits seamlessly into the 150-year economic history of Chicago and the region. From rail to slaughterhouses to steel and other heavy industry, the south end of Lake Michigan set a standard of industrial development that formed the foundation of Chicago’s growth and prosperity. What makes it different is the developers’ assurances that this change in direction to new technology will not come at the cost of more pollution and water waste.

Related Midwest, the computing park’s lead developer, said the initial phase of the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP) will be a 128-acre campus located on one of the region’s largest contiguous waterfront properties. Groundbreaking is scheduled for sometime later this year.

IQMP was officially approved for development by Chicago City Council in December 2024 and represents a private-public partnership in collaboration with IBM, Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE), local, state and federal government support and anchored by a Palo Alto-based startup called PsiQuantum.

IQMP is intended to bring quantum capabilities to tackle the biggest challenges in healthcare, green energy, agriculture, and national security, according to PsiQuantum spokesperson Chris Estep.

The quantum computer will also prioritize solutions to the global climate crisis, according to a statement from IQMP’s Director and Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Brian DeMarco.

But for the Great Lakes region that’s often considered a global water haven and now also a “quantum prairie,” the introduction of quantum technology poses concerns and questions about the water allocation needed to operate this massive quantum campus.

How to Cool Quantum

Quantum can take many forms, from computing and sensing to communications networks. But all quantum technologies rely on highly delicate superconducting qubits to function.

Qubits, which gather more information at much faster rates than classic computer bits, are also highly sensitive. In order for a quantum computer to run, it needs supercooling at slightly above absolute zero (or -273.15°C), said Danyel Cavazos, manager of the University of Chicago’s Quantum Lab.

Whereas traditional data centers present a water consumption dilemma as they drain water resources to cool the bits for classic computers, developers of IQMP’s quantum computer hope to avoid that problem.

“We plan to use a closed-loop cooling solution that does not plan to draw water from Lake Michigan, the Calumet River or other local rivers,” according to Estep. “The cryoplant will not use any chemical pollutants, and the site’s overall energy consumption and cooling requirements are much lower compared to sites for other modes of computing.”

PsiQuantum and IQMP say their closed-loop system for its quantum computer will use internal water recycling rather than pulling from freshwater sources like Lake Michigan.

IQMP’s cryogenic cooling facilities will rely on non-toxic gases like helium and nitrogen, avoiding the use of any chemical pollutants in its cooling process, said Dr. DeMarco.

But Chicago water advocates are raising questions about how this massive campus will sustain water usage beyond the quantum computer’s closed loop system.

Rachel Havrelock, Chicago water policy expert and founder of the Freshwater Lab, hopes that quantum computing at IQMP represents a moment for the city to embrace water reuse.

“I am very invested in implementing water reuse in the state of Illinois, and we know that it’s easier to build water reuse systems with new projects than it is for already established projects,” Havrelock said. “And [IQMP] is going to be a big project.”

Although it was determined to be unfeasible for IQMP’s initial build phase, the city of Chicago has discussed plans to supply reclaimed water to the quantum campus in future developments at the former South Works site, according to Allison Fore, public affairs officer at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD).

MWRD is continuing to explore the feasibility of using reclaimed water for IQMP’s ultimate buildout, but this will take several years to obtain a right-of-way permit to supply new pipes for the approximately eight-mile-long lakefront property, according to Fore.

Chico has also expressed a commitment to pursuing water reuse plans for IQMP. He presented a University of Illinois Chicago water reuse plan to Governor Pritzker and IQMP developers to explore the feasibility of it for the IQMP development.

“Mind you, [IQMP] is the first of its kind,” Chico said. “So there’s no blueprint, no playbook to turn to. We’re the first in this.”

But as the first phase of the IQMP is still a few years out, Havrelock sees this as the ideal moment to explore water reuse capabilities for the campus.

“If we’re doing the world’s fastest computing, then how about that comes with the most innovative form of renewable energy and the most efficient forms of water use that strive for zero water waste, or as close to it as possible,” Havrelock said.

Illinois Hopes To Lead Quantum Race

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s support of IQMP, allotting over $500 million in state funding to the campus, has signaled a growing commitment to transforming Illinois into a quantum hub.

In fact, Chicago hosted the inaugural Global Quantum Forum on July 23 and 24, convening global tech leaders to discuss the future of quantum, including IBM and PsiQuantum.  This comes as the United Nations has declared 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, commemorating 100 years of quantum mechanics.

On the first day of the forum ASE and a coalition of South Side advocates picketed outside the Forum to push Illinois lawmakers to approve a Community Benefits Agreement with PsiQuantum and Related Midwest to ensure environmental justice at the former South Works site.

Illinois is also uniquely privileged in its rights to Lake Michigan water allocation. As decided by a 1967 U.S. Supreme Court decree, Illinois is permitted to divert 2.1 billion gallons of Lake Michigan water per day, an exception that other Great Lakes states don’t enjoy, according to Havrelock.

But Havrelock hopes that Chicago can become leaders in water reuse as the tech boom puts increased strain on Lake Michigan’s freshwater.

“My number one goal is for Cook County, which is now currently the world’s largest freshwater diversion, to be the world’s largest water recycling hub,” Havrelock said. “And it doesn’t have to be data centers, but this is what’s getting built now.”

Despite enthusiasm by state officials and investors over the potential that IQMP brings to the quantum race, many local residents and environmental advocates brace for an uncertain quantum future for the Southeast Side.

“It’s difficult for a community, especially one that’s been so historically impacted by deindustrialization to trust that this new tech economy is going to deliver benefits to them,” Havrelock said. “That’s a tall order.”

A Skeptical Southeast

When South Works closed in the 1990s, U.S. Steel largely remediated the site of toxic soils from over a century of steelmaking. In 1997, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency issued a  No Further Remediation Letter for the site, but many local advocates have demanded Related Midwest perform another remediation ahead of IQMP.

“There’s no further remediation needed if the site stays as is,” NietoGomez said. “But if you do anything to the site, the letter says you will need to remediate.”

ASE pushed Related Midwest to conduct further remediation before it breaks ground at the former South Works site.

“What is the plan to work with the community to make sure that the remediation plan not only meets the standards that Related Midwest needs for their development,” NietoGomez said. “but also helps fulfill the community’s priorities in trying to stay healthy during that process?”

In a statement to Circle of Blue, Related Midwest affirmed that the entire IQMP parcel will be enrolled in the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s Site Remediation Program and would conduct any necessary remediation for subsequent developments.

When it comes to water, ASE is also concerned about the hazy plans in place for how the quantum computer will source its water.

“We’ve heard that [Related Midwest] is reconsidering taking water from the lake, and that has absolutely not been discussed at all with the community,” NietoGomez said. “So the water intake, how they’re planning to cool, none of that has been discussed with the community.”

Related Midwest did not comment on other alternatives to water allocation for the site.

To clarify these questions and voice concerns about the IQMP development, ASE pushed the city of Chicago to host monthly informational community meetings, the last of which was hosted in March 2025, according to NietoGomez.

While the Southeast Side waits for an anticipated date for groundbreaking at 8080 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive, NietoGomez says critical environmental and economic questions regarding IQMP loom large for Southeast Siders.

“We feel like this is something that’s consistently hanging over the community,” NietoGomez said. “It’s been going on for the last seven months, and so we don’t know when the shoe’s going to drop.”

So as the Southeast Side trades its legacy of steel for a future in quantum, water advocates are urging the city to protect its most vital resource as it embraces this tech boom.

“We drive destiny where we use the water to support human and ecosystem life, but we also do sustainable economic developments,” Havrelock said. “We’re the water vessel. We’re the place to be in a volatile time.”

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