Artisan group member Architectural Granite & Marble was awarded the Marble Institute of America's Pinnacle award for its contribution to the Pioneer Courage Park project in Omaha.
"This is the first time MIA has awarded specifically for sustainability and we are pleased that our project was selected," says Jack Lieberknecht, AG&M Executive Vice President, Commercial division. "Especially satisfying to us was working closely with the late Jim Reeves, one of the leading landscape designers in the country. The overall success of the design is a result of Jim's integrity and consistent vision. Over two seasons we were his eyes and legs in the quarry, selecting, measuring, documenting, fitting the random blocks to his design, cataloguing and shipping in sequence as the contractor called for them. A sensitive approach to utilizing all the stone pieces from the quarrying and fabrication process."
"Pioneer Courage Park turned a parking lot into an artistic stone space in a responsible way that honors the Omaha's history," says Chad Seiders, Artisan Group Executive Director. "We are proud to have been a part of a project that means so much to the city and was sustainable as well."
Pioneer Courage Park is the origin of a five block master planned sculpture park through downtown Omaha developed by First National Bank of Omaha as the theme of their corporate campus, and a contribution to the City of Omaha and State of Nebraska, exemplifying their commitment to the area's rich history.
The overall design consists of 123 bronze works of art bound by a narrative that begins in the Pioneer Courage site on May 21,1841, as a train of four wagons departs for the West. Their noise stampedes a herd of bison through the streets which flushes a flock of geese in Spirit of Nebraska's Wilderness pond and park five blocks away. Natural stone provides the setting throughout the parks.
To avoid depletion of energy, water, raw material, for the wagon train departure, the designer envisioned white limestone knolls and streambeds crossing the prairie grass. After much research in Texas, Kansas, Iowa and Wisconsin he settled on dolomite quarried at the western terminus of the 900 mile Niagara formation in Hayton, WI, 534 miles from the site. While the primary production of the quarry is jetty and retaining wall stone, the operators were willing to set aside full benches of the color and height required by the architect for later selection and storage. Upper beds were white and provided the desired contrast with plantings and bronzes. Lower beds in the quarry were a pale taupe which the designer used to represent wet areas in the creek bed without wetting the walking surfaces, and to mark change of planes at stairs.
Stones were used with the minimum processing needed, saving water and energy. Typical 10 to 20 ton wall pieces were measured, sketched, catalogued and stored over two quarry seasons. Quarry drill marks were tooled out by hand after installation. Curved features were sawed or hand-tooled on 2 to 5 sides only as needed. Pavers were sawed for tight fit and finish and bush-hammered for traction. Furniture and watercourse pieces were fitted together at the quarry from selected scrap. Trimmings were crushed in the quarry for use as roadbase or burned for lime. Nothing was wasted.
The high reflectivity of the white stone was fundamental to the designer's "moonlit night" rather than "bright stagelit" evening scheme, minimizing light pollution. The closely fitted, non-absorptive stone facilitated the low-volume waterfall and stream, allowing reductions in energy and water use.
To contain the goose pond site the designer chose black granite made from roughbacks, a salvaged by-product from other projects, lightly flamed to obscure irregularities, surrounded by white dolomite curbs, benches and flagstone paving.
To prevent environmental degradation over life cycle of project, the stone on this project served several environmental functions. First, as retaining walls to maintain the grade changes required by the artists' storyline; then as safe and durable wearing surfaces at the high traffic steps and paving areas, then to protect and conceal the limited concrete used at the watercourses, stairways and under the bronze statue bases.
All stone was installed on permeable crushed rock base so that retaining walls, statue plinths and paving could be lifted and rearranged as the sculpture was installed over a five year period.
Care was taken in the design of the contours, finishes and substrate, as well as in the selection of native plantings, to minimize runoff and future maintenance expense.
The stone itself is exceptionally durable, exceeding ASTM C568 classification III high density limestone, and used by the Corps of Engineers for Great Lakes breakwater construction. It will last as long as the park remains and can be removed and reused if the program changes, to create a livable, comfortable, safe, productive environment.
Pioneer Courage Park anchors a five city block array of street sculpture, green space and water features, all part of a cohesive artistic and historical narrative, which encourages visitors to leave their cars and stroll through the commercial center of the city as participants, moving in and around the 1.25 life size bronze wagons, human and animal figures, rather than observing from a distance.
It allows public access over safe and durable paving, to convenient seating or the interpretive diorama for a leisurely appreciation of the history of the city and interaction with today's residents.
The space provides a place for the workers in surrounding high rise offices to sit, relax, and have their lunch. It also provides a venue for musical performances provided by the bank and for other formal gatherings. Its white hardscape, native plantings and the incorporated water courses minimize heat island effect in the midst of air conditioned office towers. Pioneer Courage Park returns two city blocks previously used for surface parking to civic use.
Client: First National Bank of Omaha (Omaha, NE), Landscape Designer: JVR and Associates (Hancock, NH), Landscape Architects: HDR Inc. (Omaha, NE), Brown Sardina Inc. (Boston, MA), Architects: RDG Planning & Design (Omaha, NE), Leo A. Daly Architects (Omaha, NE), Art Consultant: Boody Fine Arts (Chesterfield, MO), Artists: Kent Ullberg (Corpus Christi, TX), Blair Buswell (Pleasant Grove, UT), Ed Fraughton (South Jordan, UT), Fountain Designer: The Fountain People, Inc. (San Marcos, TX), Contractors: Hawkins Construction Co. (Omaha, NE), Kiewit Construction Co. (Omaha, NE), Stone Subcontractor: Architectural Granite & Marble (Austin, TX), Quarrier: Western Lime Corporation (West Bend, WI), Diorama fabrication:Valders Stone and Marble Inc. (Valders, WI), Paving fabrication: Buechel Stone Company (Childers, WI), Step fabrication: Dietz Memorial Inc. (Waco, TX)
Architectural Granite & Marble is a leader in natural stone supply with five U.S. sales centers and slab yards and a globetrotting management team. AG&M's deep industry experience and excellent reputation provides access to the finest quarries in the world, while its diverse customer base gives them the buying power to bring residential and commercial customers top quality natural stone. For more information, visit www.agmgranite.com or call 512263-7625.
Artisan Group is an association of premium countertop fabricators that covers most major markets in the U.S. and Canada. Its members average more than 20 years of fabrication experience in the countertop industry, and all Artisan Group members have achieved, or have begun the process to achieve, full accreditation with the Marble Institute of America--a first among granite fabricators.
Brands of the Artisan Stone Collection include Exotic & Classic Granite, Modesto Granite (starting at $35/square foot) and Saratoga Soapstone. It also offers a marble collection as well as Heritage Wood surfacing products. Apart from countertops, the Artisan Group supplies the Firstline collection of granite care products as well as Kohler sinks and faucets through an exclusive specialty dealer program with the Kohler Company. For more information, visit www.artisan-counters.com .
Top: Jack Lieberknecht (R), AG&M Vice President of the Commercial Division receives the MIA Pinnacle Award from Luigi Di Geso, CEO MAPEI Americas.
Bottom: Stone from Artisan Group member AG&M graces Pioneer Courage Park and earns Pinnacle Award.
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