When Stone’s Not in the Budget

Landscape Architecture by Gary Buczkowski, Planning & Development Director, Hoffman Estates Park District

The landscape architect envisioned natural stone for the waterfall, retaining walls and areas surrounding the bridge and gazebo at the Bridges of Poplar Creek Country Club. The budget said no. He went with 96 tons of “Outcropping” stone instead (Rosetta), interlocking concrete blocks with a natural weathered look and color blends.

In 2010, the Bridges of Poplar Creek Country Club in Hoffman Estates, Illinois was poised to redefine itself as a premier venue for outdoor weddings and banquets after a multimillion-dollar renovation of the 35-year-old Chicago-area golf course. Proposed elements for the new venue included a waterfall and pond, a gazebo, gardens and space for seating. In discussions with the golf course management, the design theme that kept coming up was “natural.”

Led by Gary Buczkowski, director of planning and development for the Hoffman Estates Park District, the Country Club began to plan for the renovation. Buczkowski envisioned creating a pond and waterfall with natural stone, but knew that would not fit the project’s budget, nor the experience level of the park district’s installation crew.

“As a landscape architect, the biggest challenge is achieving the outcome I envision,” he explained, especially when the original vision is in stone.

The Design
Rock from a quarry, of course, comes in various sizes, shapes and colors. Buczkowski selected the closest thing he could get to the look of stone: Rosetta’s Outcropping Collection, wet-cast concrete blocks in various sizes, textures and with a weathered” appearance.

“It’s as natural as you can get, and you know exactly what you’re going to get,” he explains.

To ensure that the project matched his vision, Buczowski first designed the project in AutoCAD, and then transferred the data into Google SketchUp to create 3D models of the site for prospective clients.

“Installation can present little twists and turns in bringing the concept to reality, [specifically with] the orientation of blocks, which can really affect the final outcome of the project,” he said. “The only way I could be reasonably assured that everything would be built to the exact scale was plotting GPS coordinates for each of the blocks.”

The gazebo and waterfall are the centerpiece of the new, 8,200-square-foot event area, part of the $6 million country club and golf course renovations.

Buczkowski put his logistical challenges to bed by assigning a point to the corners of each block in AutoCAD, and transferring the information to a GPS for installers in the field.

“The ability to map out the project using GPS coordinates allowed us to deliver on our promise. I was sure that what I drew could be built in the field,” Buczkowski said.

The architect designed the project in AutoCAD and transferred the data into Google SketchUp to create 3D models of the site for the client.

Installation and Finished Product
Installation began when a 32-ton crane arrived at 7:30 a.m. and began setting blocks that the Hoffman Estates Park District crew had palletized in sequence to expedite the work.

“The crane operator told us, ‘You guys have to slow down because you’re cramping my hand!’ We were installing at least one piece a minute,” Buczkowski said. “By the end of the day, we had installed 96 tons of material in 7.5 hours. We didn’t even lose any fingers!”

Once finished, the renovated event area complemented a new putting green and chipping area, 15 remodeled and renumbered holes on the golf course, and eight new bridges to take golfers over drainage and flood-plain areas, allowing the course to open quickly after heavy rains.

The renovations were tested when almost seven inches of rainfall hit the Chicago area over 24 hours in July 2011, the wettest period on record since 1871. Poplar Creek was one of the few golf courses able to reopen the next day, proving that the improvements were more than skin deep.

“As a landscape architect, delivering on your promise is extremely important, especially when you’re dealing with low bid, tax-payer funded contracts,” Buczkowski concluded.