Landscape Architect Articles

Paramount Plaza Celebrates Grafton‚Äö?Ñ????ë?¬•s Jazz and Blues Heritage02-01-11 | News

Paramount Plaza Celebrates Grafton?EUR??,,????'?????<

by SAA Design Group

This view of Paramount Plaza, its fountains and variety of pavers, is from the roof top of the historic Grafton Hotel. The upper and lower interlocking circular fountains represent a nearby historic dam on the Milwaukee River that has since been removed. The fountain has a 17-inch drop between the two pools and is finished in polished black Mesabi granite veneer, which abuts the limestone serpentine wall at the back of the fountain.

The intent of Paramount Plaza was to bring a unique public gathering space to downtown Grafton, Wisconsin. The Village of Grafton is located in the heart of Ozaukee County, approximately 20 miles north of Milwaukee.

The 42 and 24-inch limestone-veneered serpentine wall sections, locally quarried, are in an ashlar pattern, with custom capstones fitted with individual backlit LED accent lighting. The upper pool has a metal sculpture of three musicians by a local artist. The granite cap of the fountain has blue LED down lighting similar to the serpentine wall. The 16-in. custom bronze reverse channel letters have a backing of clear Lexan and are attached to the street side of the wall, fronting an irrigated landscaped area.

Recommended in the Grafton downtown revitalization master plan, the plaza area occupies space formerly used as part of a dangerous five-way intersection. With the need for a public gathering place and pedestrian safety, it was decided to close one leg of the plaza intersection and make the necessary safety improvements to the intersection.

Paramount Plaza draws its design theme from the compelling and nostalgic history of jazz and blues artists who were recorded on 78 rpm records in Grafton beginning in 1917 and through the 1920s and 1930s at a studio located in a furniture factory, the Wisconsin Chair Co. The inspiration and design theme of the plaza was based on the legend of the music created here, the artists and their historic importance to jazz and blues heritage. The blues renaissance revitalized Grafton back then, and, in a way, history has repeated itself. The Paramount Plaza public works project has used this historical context to again revitalize this area of Grafton. Rarely does a public works project capture the interest and imagination of the community like this one. It has fostered a captivating community gathering space for many years to come.

The enclosed raised planters along the plaza edges have decorative steel railings with quarter-inch plate steel lazer-cut musical note motifs. Brick pavers (Belden Brick) edge the sides and back of the planters. A bright red brick in a basket weave pattern is flanked on either side by soldier courses in a more subdued tone. R. Crumb artwork banners affixed to the light poles are another decorative touch. Eight Syringo reticulata ?EUR??,,????'?????<

Community Relations
The Paramount Plaza project was envisioned by Jim Brunnquell, Grafton Village president and sponsored in part by the Village of Grafton Community Development Authority (CDA).

Gil Jevne, ASLA, an associate landscape architect and senior urban designer with Schreiber/Anderson Associates of Madison (now SAA Design Group), initially received a call from Darrell Hofland, the administrator for the Village of Grafton, whom he knew through the firm?EUR??,,????'?????<

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A Poligon custom trellis for the performance stage is reminiscent of a grand piano top. The stage proper is colored concrete, with a sweeping white band of colored concrete that matches the cap of the limestone seat walls on either side of the stage. A 1-ft. 8-inch square border of rough surfaced pavers at the base of the stage was installed to prevent skateboarders from grinding along the stage edge. The double-tiered fountain is in the background.

Mr. Jevne become the project landscape architect/project manager for the plaza project.

The CDA was actively involved in assisting businesses in the project area with upgrades to building fa?????ades and signage. Through these efforts CDA elicited support from local businesses and business groups to coordinate design goals. The Downtown Business Association and Chamber of Commerce helped facilitate the project with the implementation team through regular breakfast meetings and interaction with businesses. The extensive communication promoted involvement and sense of ownership of the proposed improvements. Meeting feedback was instrumental in developing detailed construction schedules sensitive to the needs of the affected businesses.

The Walk of Fame (left) and the upper fountain (prior to the sculpture installation) are pictured. Clay and granite pavers are the hardscape by the fountains. Some of the musicians who recording in Grafton in the 1920s and ?EUR??,,????'?????<

To meet project schedules and budgets, a number of pre-award meetings were held with the design team of Strand Associates and Schreiber/Anderson Associates (SAA), village officials, including the village planner, Village DPW, the village?EUR??,,????'?????<

The Walk of Fame comprises 7?EUR??,,????'?????<

Design Elements
Design elements include special pavers, historic period lights, outdoor speakers, benches, trash receptacles, themed banners, a fountain with a local artist-commissioned sculpture, a performance stage and LED accent lighting. The limestone veneer used on the walls was locally quarried and reminiscent of the lime kilns once prominent in the village.

The various design elements in the project were selected to be sensitive to the historic buildings adjacent to the corridor, many of which were in place at the time when the blues recording industry in the village was nationally prominent. The construction contract was based on a unit price bid format for a wide variety of items, including a large number of specialized proprietary products.

A bronze casting of the Paramount Records label is placed in a field of polished granite that emulates an old 78 rpm record. Granite pavers surround the whole.

Environmental Considerations
The project site is two blocks west of the Milwaukee River. During design it was recognized provisions needed to be incorporated to provide a measure of treatment to stormwater runoff from the site into the river. Given the constraints of the urban setting and the unusually high levels of relatively impervious dolomite bedrock here, the village selected a vortex stormwater separator as the most cost effective means available. This separator removes a high percentage of suspended solids, coarse solids, grease, oil and other floatable material from the stormwater discharge to the river.

The custom kiosk gives an overview of the history of Paramount Records on one side, and presents community events and plaza highlights on the opposite side: the Walk-of-Fame, Buy-a-Brick Program, Paramount Records Medallion, water fountain and sculpture, retaining walls and circular pavers, and the performance stage. Blue LED lighting for the kiosk to ties into the LED wall lighting. Concrete pavement with windowpane scoring immediately circumscribes the kiosk, with granite pavers abutting. The pedestrian lighting is via Paragon luminaires on 15 ft. aluminum poles (both by King Luminaire). Some poles have mounted speakers to broadcast the stage performances.

Unusual Accomplishments
The unusually high level of dolomite bedrock and compressed construction schedule required special construction techniques and coordination. Given the site is an urban environment, blasting the rock was not an option. Special construction approaches were developed to minimize the costs. For instance, special foundation arrangements were developed for the decorative walls, fountain and light poles to anchor these elements into the bedrock. Replacement utilities were laid out to take advantage of the trenches already established for the older utilities that would be abandoned. The construction schedule required fabrication of over 1,200 square feet of granite, 200 linear feet of curved capstones and 250 linear feet of decorative railing with very tight tolerances without the time for field measurements prior to fabrication. The design team worked closely with fabricators and the contractor, as well as provided construction staking to ensure proper fit and finish of the material. In the end, everything fit.

As an urban plaza in an active business district, the visual components of the design, both daytime and evening, were crucial. To achieve the type of compelling interactive setting envisioned by the village planners, the following specialized architectural details were implemented:

Central Stage and Serpentine Wall
This area includes a curvilinear limetone veneer wall interrupted by a small stage area used for musical performances. The central stage consists of a raised platform surrounded by seating steps with a shade structure reminiscent of a raised grand piano lid. In addition to live concerts, a centralized sound system with remote speakers completes the experience by replicating the sounds of the various blues artists. The serpentine wall unifies and links the major site elements and visually connects to a small plaza across the street. The wall includes capstones specially fitted with a concealed, continuous LED strip that emanates a blue wash to the wall. The wall will include interpretive information on Grafton?EUR??,,????'?????<

Walk of Fame
The plaza honors the musicians and singers recorded by Paramount Records in Grafton with the Paramount Plaza Walk of Fame. The walk comprises 44 black 2?EUR??,,????'?????<

A cul-de-sac was formed when plaza construction closed off this street. Removable Fairweather bollards allow emergency vehicle access into the plaza.

Sculpture Fountain
The sculpture fountain replaced a fountain that has been in a state of disrepair in front of the old Grafton Hotel. The fountain consists of two interlocking circular pools at different levels to represent the former historic dam on the Milwaukee River. The fountain has a 17-inch drop between the two pools and is finished in polished black Mesabi granite veneer, which abuts the limestone serpentine wall at the back of the fountain. The upper pool has a metal sculpture of three musicians by a local artist. The granite cap of the fountain has blue LED down lighting similar to the serpentine wall.

Through these many improvements, Paramount Plaza has a sense of place that celebrates and connects the extended community and visitors to the village?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Paramount Plaza Team
Client: Village of Grafton, Wis., Jim Brunnquell, village president; Darrell Hofland, village administrator. Michael Rambousek, director of planning & development; David Murphy, DPW, village engineer.

Design/Consultants
Landscape Architect: SAA Design Group (formerly Schreiber/Anderson Associates), Madison, Gil Jevne, ASLA, associate, project manager; D. Bruce Morrow, associate, landscape architect; Aaron Williams, landscape architect.
Civil Engineer/ Electrical Engineer: Strand Associates, Madison, Mike Bridwell, PE, project manager.
Fountain: Commercial Aquatic Engineering; Greg Stoks, principal.
General Contractor: Burkhart Construction, Butler, Wis.; Mike Spanheimer, PE.
Landscape Contractor: Prairie Tree Service.
Electrical Contractor: Spectrum Electric.
Irrigation Contractor: Milwaukee Lawn Sprinkler.

Benefactors
Paramount Logo Casting: VE Castings of Grafton, Vic Ehley.
Walk of Fame Granite Engravings: Rock of Ages, Blaine Hilgendorf.
Fountain Sculpture: Donation by Grafton State Bank. Artist, Norm Christianson, Cedarburg, Wis.
Paramount Kiosk: Donation by Port Washington State Bank. Fabricator: Poblocki Sign, West Allis.
Pavers: Private donations from the general public and local businesses.
Drinking Fountain: Grafton Sunrise Rotary.

Suppliers/Products
Lighting: King Luminaire
Bollards and Bike Bollards: Fairweather
Clay Brick Pavers: Belden Brick, Co.
Split Face Concrete Pavers: Unilock
Granite Pavers: Cold Spring Granite
LED Accent Lighting: Tivoli
PVC Waterstop: Greenstreak
Custom Trellis: Poligon
Custom Capstone: Stonecast
Color Concrete: L.M. Schofield
Drinking Fountain: Haws
Flagpoles: American Flagpole