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A New Spark for Tower Park01-30-06 | News






A New Spark for Tower Park

by Stephen Kelly, regional editor






The 12-ft. tall limestone hexagonal fountain by Hydro Dramatics comprises 8 stones all 18-in. thick. The top stone has 8-ft. dia. x 4-ft. hex side dimensions. The top water basin is a foot deep and 5-ft. wide. Six 2-in. weir notches of stainless steel guide the water over the six vertices. The two stones immediately below are 6-ft. dia. with 3-ft. hex sides; the lower stones are 4-ft. dia. with 2-ft. hex sides. A three hp, 208-volt, three-phase pump generates 152 gpm through the 3 and 4-inch PVC piping and a 24" diverter plate. The lower pool basin, constructed of Portland Concrete with limestone perimeter fa????????ade and capstones (4 x 24-inch hex sections), sports six 2" cascade jets, six 500-watt underwater lights behind the falls, and six 250-watt lights under the cascades.


Historical Bits

The Village of Peoria Heights came into being when the Prospect Heights Land Co. began a subdivision on a bluff overlooking the Illinois River. The area was developed in 1898, incorporated and dubbed Prospect Heights. That name, as so many good vanity plates, was already taken by a Chicago-area community, and so it became Peoria Heights.






Looking down from the 200-foot tower?EUR??,,????'?????<


The village is the birthplace of Charles Duryea, who built the Duryea automobile, the first gasoline-powdered car in America in 1893, today housed in the Smithsonian, the car that is, not Duryea.

Another bit of history lost to time was the Midwest?EUR??,,????'?????<





The Tower, Transit and Teddy

The water tower, a uniquely shaped structure, is a focal point for Tower Park, this featured project. The first water tower was razed for scrap metal during World War II. The new iteration takes riders up 170 feet via an exterior glass fa????????ade elevator to one of three observation decks located atop the village?EUR??,,????'?????<






The park in the 1960s.
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Tower Park is connected to Prospect Road, the area?EUR??,,????'?????<






This elevated Poligon pavilion is 25-ft. 1-in. tall x 47-feet, with 8-foot tall columns. Standard shelters are built ?EUR??,,????'?????<









Trolleys were once a functional mode of transport in Peoria Heights, but you can still see Peoria Heights on a variety of two-hour tours (just $8) aboard the gas powered History Trolley operated by the Greater Peoria Mass Transit District on Thursday, Friday and Saturday mornings May through October. One tour runs along Grandview Drive with views of the spiffy homes and Illinois River, then through Peoria?EUR??,,????'?????<

Peoria Particulars

Peoria Heights is basically in the center of the state (Illinois, in case you?EUR??,,????'?????<






A closer look at the exposed aggregate pavement and 1.5-inch. wide concrete perimeter banking. The site amenities include tables, umbrellas and chairs from Landscape Forms. The Carousel tables have fiberglass tops; backed chairs perforated metal grids; Equinox umbrellas have extruded aluminum frames joined by stainless steel pins at pivot points to lock hub in place, single-piece poles and nylon-lined center hubs; the 8-foot octagonal lock-stitched marine-grade fabric cover with double seams are solution-dyed for fade-resistance. The Plainwell maple benches (25in. d x 32in. h x 72in. l) are Forest Stewardship Council-certified. The 35-gallon capacity side-paneled maple litter receptacles (Plainwell), 30-in. dia. x 38-in. tall, have polyethylene liners and rotomolded black polyethylene top attached by cable to the receptacle. The metal parts of the site amenities are powdercoated. The four-foot dia. tile planters are from Wausau.


There are 516 females to every 484 males; the median resident age is 38, the median household income is $32,161 (year 2000). On the village website (we are a global village, after all) Mayor Mark Allen terms this community ?EUR??,,????'?????<

The Peoria Heights Chamber of Commerce purports a population in ?EUR??,,????'?????<






The two-ton Anamosa limestone seating slabs are 8-feet long x 2.5-feet wide x 1.5-feet high. Anamosa limestone contains dolomite, a light-tinted magnesium-rich sedimentary rock deposited across the Midwest about 420 million years ago. Anamosa limestone is known for its light to moderate gold color and distinctive veining.


As I write this, Dec. 13, 2005, the weather here, Tustin, Calif. (near Anaheim?EUR??,,????'?????<

The mayor notes Peoria Heights has a ?EUR??,,????'?????<






Twenty-three Lumec Harmonia poles (16-feet tall) and Z65B luminaries with spun-aluminum decorative covers over the hood illuminate Tower Park.


A quick look at Google news shows things are jumpin?EUR??,,????'?????<

The mayor does point out some viable reasons for living here?EUR??,,????'?????<






Jutting up like a landlocked conning tower, the Tower Park water tower takes riders up 170 feet via an exterior glass fa????????ade elevator to one of three observation decks located atop the village?EUR??,,????'?????<


The New Tower Park

The Village of Peoria Heights, Ill., needed to spruce up its park, Tower Park, that is. Tower Park was built in the 1960s around the water tower. The ride up the tower and view from atop affords a great panorama of the Illinois River Valley.






The Tower Plaza Tot Lot paving is 6-in. thick exposed aggregate PCC with 18-in. wide PCC bands. The dark green pour-in-place play surfacing (SurfaceAmerica) is 1.75" thick over a concrete/composite subbase with a 3-ft. wide granite exposed aggregate band bordering the Kentucky bluegrass. The aluminum flag poles were salvaged and relocated here. The play equipment (Landscape Structures) includes a two-seat TuffRider Airplane and Fire Engine; one-seat Whimsy; Rider Seahorse and Dolphin; and SpringRing. New red sunset maples arc around the Tot Lot.


It?EUR??,,????'?????<

Shive-Hattery, landscape architects of Cedar Rapids, Iowa worked with the village to create an engaging park, a design to accommodate larger groups yet inviting for individuals and smaller gatherings. The master plan reconstructed the entire park.






This bronze of Abraham Lincoln sculpted in 1908 is one of only three originals by Swedish painter turn sculpture Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941), the monument creator of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota and of Robert E. Lee on Stone Mountain, Georgia (he left that project before the other stone images, Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson, were completed). As an aside, Borglum?EUR??,,????'?????<


The starting point was Village Hall, a structure with a flat roof and two sloping sides, basically a half-hexagonal cedar-shingled building on the corner of the lot and diagonal to the tower. The building?EUR??,,????'?????<






The park design allows a view from inside Village Hall across the hexagon plaza pavement to the water fountain and the pavilion.


The park has two plazas, Tower Plaza, the area immediately around the tower, which has a hardscape of connecting exposed aggregate, and Park Plaza, the area in front of Village Hall. Park Plaza incorporates stamped and colored concrete in hexagonal patterns and showcases a large two-tier limestone water fountain with a series of bubble sprays, an elevated 44-foot wide hexagon pavilion with an illuminated three-tier roof, limestone seatwalls, two-ton free-standing limestone seating slabs, limestone signage, colorful pole lighting, a play area with safety surfacing and equipment, decorative umbrella tables and chairs, plus wooden benches and ceramic tile planters festooned with colorful annuals.






Looking toward the Village Hall, with the limestone tablature between light poles. A skyline honeylocust (4-inch cal.) was specified (left); the ginkgo tree (right) was existing; the petunias are courtesy of the local garden club.


Speaking of limestone, we are talking about Anamosa limestone, named for Anamosa, Iowa. This limestone contains dolomite, a light-tinted magnesium-rich sedimentary rock deposited across the Midwest about 420 million years ago. Anamosa limestone is known for its light to moderate gold color and distinctive veining.

The pavilion and water fountain are on the axis line of the Village Hall. From its interior, the large windows in the council meeting room affords a great view of Park Plaza hardscape, the fountain and the pavilion.


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