LASN is a photographically oriented, professional journal featuring topics of concern and state-of-the-art projects designed or influenced by registered Landscape Architects.
Issue link: https://landscapearchitect.epubxp.com/i/274582
76 Landscape Architect and Specifier News Mary Bartelme Park in Chicago, Ill., is a 2.3-acre contemporary urban park that occupies the site of a former infirmary in the West Loop, one of the fastest growing neighborhoods in the Windy City. As recently as the late 1980s, the West Loop was a dangerous and dilapidated industrial warehouse district; over the last two decades, however, it has been renewed by the addition of numerous upscale residences and some of the nation's most well-known and fashionable restaurants. The rapid residential growth exacerbated the lack of green space, and the community did not hesitate to voice their displeasure. Sited on a single city block and surrounded by rehabbed industrial buildings, Mary Bartelme Park was formed in response. Design & Preparation Mary Bartelme Park is located on a former industrial "brownfield" site, which required careful remediation and sensitivity to the threat of groundwater contamination. Working in collaboration with the Chicago Park District, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and the City of Chicago Department of Water Management, landscape architecture firm site design group, ltd., created a plan to store excavated earth beneath mounds and import clean soil to provide a buffer between the surface and rectified soils. Site design group used recognized environmental concerns, such as an existing underground storage tank, to inform the site's topography and minimize the amount of resources required while meeting regulations for treatment and remediation. Extensive public input became the heart of the design process. Site design group helped to define the program and design concept through polls, discussions with city agencies and a highly invested Above Water-activated photocatalytic pavers were installed below the steel arches to alleviate the urban heat island effect and reduce air pollution. On hot days, the arches produce a fine mist of vaporized water that immerses the area in a cloud. The water feature is designed to expend just 10 percent of the three gallons of water per minute that a typical Chicago spray feature uses. At night, built in LED lights illuminate the arches. 74-83.indd 76 2/27/14 9:05 AM