CAIRO, Illinois 鈥 Outside a repair shop in rural southeastern Illinois, the parts of a massive 3D construction printer sat disassembled on a flatbed trailer, weeds climbing the wheels.
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Photos: More than 100 people gathered to watch a massive 3D printer lay down the walls of Cairo鈥檚 first home built in 30 years. (Julia Rendleman/Capitol News Illinois)
Illinois state Sen. Dale Fowler addresses the crowd at the groundbreaking. Prestige owners Erik Burtis and Jamie Hayes (seated from right to left) look on, alongside Burtis鈥 son Josh. (Julia Rendlemen/Capitol News Illinois)
A man stands at a podium speaking into a microphone. Seated in a row next to him are men wearing gray shirts. Behind them are two tower-like structures, part of a huge 3D printer. (Isaac Smith/The Southern Illinoisan)
The McBride Place housing complex partway through demolition in 2019. (Molly Parker/The Southern Illinoisan)
Kevin McAllister demands answers in 2017 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during a residents鈥 meeting before the demolition of the McBride Place and Elmwood Place public housing. ( Richard Sitler/The Southern Illinoisan via AP)
Magnolia Manor, built in 1869, is one of several mansions lining Washington Avenue in Cairo. (Photo by Julia Rendleman)
Grand Rivers Community Bank approved a $1.1 million in October 2023 loan for a 3D printer purchase. (Julia Rendleman/ProPublica)
From left: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker poses for a photo with Harrisburg Mayor John McPeek and Fowler. During a January 2024 meeting at Harrisburg City Hall, Fowler talked up the Cairo 3D printer project to the governor. (Courtesy of Harrisburg Mayor John McPeek)
After the 2024 Cairo duplex celebration, the 3D printer was parked at this country repair shop in Galatia, where parts of it sat outside on a flatbed trailer for more than a year. (Photo by Julia Rendleman)
In August 2024, Cairo signed an agreement with Prestige for the company to build one duplex it would donate, plus another 29 homes over the next three years if the city could secure funding. Two years later, the lot in the center of town where the homes were to be built remains empty. (Photo by Julia Rendleman)
Ryan Moore, then a Prestige employee, points to a crack in the duplex in December, one of dozens the company says caused it to stop work. Prestige said it waited a year for its printer supplier to provide a crack remediation plan. When one wasn鈥檛 provided, the company used hydraulic cement. (Photo by Julia Rendleman)
Crews began working again on the duplex last fall after reporters started asking questions, but it remains unfinished. (Photo by Julia Rendleman)
