Chicago Mayor Richard Daley led a mid-August dedication of a new city park with plaza paved in Unilock Eco-Priora stones. Located in the downtown-bordering West Loop community, Mary Bartelme Park is the latest project using the producer’s signature permeable pavers and Essroc TX Active cement
Sources: Unilock LLC, Aurora, Ill.; CP staff
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley led a mid-August dedication of a new city park with plaza paved in Unilock Eco-Priora stones. Located in the downtown-bordering West Loop community, Mary Bartelme Park is the latest project using the producer’s signature permeable pavers and Essroc TX Active cement. The 5- x 10-in. and 10-in. square pavers confine plaza rainfall or ice/snow melt to immediate ground infiltration, while the photocatalytic binder enables the stones to be self-cleaning and pollution-absorbing, especially during sun exposure. Unilock supplied 4,000 sq. ft. of the TX Active product for the park, plus 9,500 sq. ft. of Eco-Priora in Coffee Creek (brushed) and Charcoal (smooth).
Exhibiting twisted, stainless steel structures, the plaza is bordered by planters of (naturally corroding) Cor-Ten steel walls. We incorporated native plant materials and [permeable] pavers to reduce longterm maintenance cost for the Chicago Park District. In order for the plaza area to remain brilliant white over time [and] reduce the need for cleaning, we included the TX Active [paver specification], says Ernest Wong, principal of Site Design Group. The Chicago firm advanced permeable paver usage with the city in 2008, specifying Unilock’s Eco-Optiloc stones for a 265,000-sq.-ft. parking area at U.S. Cellular Field. The producer followed up on that record-sized job last year, delivering 235,000 sq. ft. of Eco-Priora for Chicago’s Buckingham Fountain plaza restoration.