More than 150 years ago, a small farming community sprang up along the banks of Duck Creek. Located 15 miles northeast of Dallas, Texas, the area became the city of Garland. As with most early settlements, the location was selected based on the availability of water, the railroad and fertile soil.

Visions of a local, natural stream is replicated with reeds of wild grass to accentuate the bench seat backs.

Today, Garland is a suburban industrial center for electronics, manufacturing and food processing and home to a world famous hat manufacturer. While the city began with a smattering of settlers, it has grown to a population of 250,000.

Access to move people and commerce is key to any community?EUR??,,????'???s continued growth. The expansion of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) system throughout the city and to the surrounding suburbs has delivered a significant impact on urban development. Investors and developers have been following the DART rail line expansion as the blueprint for successful developments. By the end of 2002, $1.3 billion in private funds was invested in developments along DART?EUR??,,????'???s 44-mile light rail system serving Dallas, Garland, Richardson and Plano.

The rail station expansion is part of a 30-year city transportation plan to serve the growing needs of the Texas metroplex. Strategically placed throughout the Dallas area, the rail stations are uniquely designed and reflective of the community they serve. The station designs are a collaborative effort between professionals and citizens rooting them to the area?EUR??,,????'???s historic significance, while delivering an artistic enhancement to the neighborhood. The light rail system, and an additional 34 bus stations, have established a benchmark for incorporating community involvement with city improvement projects. From the inception of the rail system, the transportation board of directors established community involvement as essential to the design of every station. The design for each was orchestrated through art committees formed from each station locality. The committees consisted of institution leaders and citizens involved in the transportation planning, plus an artist, and a team of architects and engineers.

According to Craig King, DART art director, an ?EUR??,,????'??essential construction component kit?EUR??,,????'?? was established for each rail station. A team of citizens, artists, and architects worked with this kit to develop the individual station?EUR??,,????'???s design unique to the community it serves. Selected for their beauty, PMBR: (continued from page 18) design flexibility, durability and reasonable cost, concrete interlocking pavestones were included in the construction component kit.

?EUR??,,????'??Maintainability is very important to us and the concrete pavestones allow us to go back in and retrofit stations with new or updated equipment,?EUR??,,????'?? King explained. ?EUR??,,????'??The ability to place the paving stones back with little evidence that we had to do any work is a very important quality inherent to the material.?EUR??,,????'??

The colors and shapes of the Delta interlocking pavestones replicate the water and stones of a river shoreline.

This resulted in practically all stations using concrete pavestones?EUR??,,????'??+more than 500,000 SF?EUR??,,????'??+in various shapes, colors, and patterns that support the design concept of each station.

A new rail station, the G3 NE Line, which expands DART?EUR??,,????'???s services into north Garland, is a prime example of the unique results of this collaborative design. Texas native Celia Alvarez-Munoz was the noted artist chosen for the design team. The transportation authority had already completed stations within the Dallas city borders. And as the rail expanded to the outlying suburban cities and towns an unspoken competition arose between the city and suburbs to see who could have the better station designs. Alvarez-Munoz found this an appealing aspect of the project. She is especially intrigued by design projects that provide the opportunity to bridge ideas. Train stations provide the perfect platform for this kind of creative design, as they transport people and commerce from one location to another. A tour of the great train stations of Europe also provided inspiration. Connecting people to their heritage is another attractive element of this commission.

Several meetings with the citizens allowed Alvarez-Munoz the opportunity to listen to the residents talk about their city. ?EUR??,,????'??Public art is negotiation between the wants and needs of a community. The artist can influence both,?EUR??,,????'?? said Ms. Alvarez-Munoz. The community wanted a train station and it needed a catalyst for revitalizing the downtown. Design clues came from local history. The beginnings of Garland centered around water?EUR??,,????'??+-a stream that gave life to big oak trees. The flowing of water and vegetation are reflected in the station?EUR??,,????'???s design, and executed in the pavement and seating areas. The station?EUR??,,????'???s four round columns set on the platform suggest sturdy trees with a simplified carved foliage design. When passed by in a moving train, they work together as sort of a flip board animation that allows them to be viewed almost simultaneously. The three-story clock tower and the four square column ?EUR??,,????'??gate?EUR??,,????'?? extended the length of the station, and the canopied wall facades simulate an enclosed train station. All these elements work together to generate images of train stations from the past.

The access space is covered by a hinged door, which has a welded, metal-edged restraint to accommodate the sand bed; the pavers are then glued to the sand bed. This ingenious modification allows for easy access for retrofittings and mechanical repairs.

?EUR??,,????'??The pavestones suggest movement of water and life. DART now moves that life. It?EUR??,,????'???s a river of people,?EUR??,,????'?? explained Alvarez-Munoz. ?EUR??,,????'??The pavestones start out in warm buffs of green, blue, and red referencing the stones that can be collected at the stream?EUR??,,????'???s edge. ?EUR??,,????'??The placement of each pavestone is crucial to the effect,?EUR??,,????'?? she said, ?EUR??,,????'??because the pavers start out clearly defined and from there the colors become less defined as the stream moves along. The three-pointed paver shape, the Delta stone, was selected because it resembled the couplings that join train cars. Furthermore, it provided a softer transition from one color to the next.

?EUR??,,????'??The creation of the Garland DART rail stations were a collaborative effort between a team of professionals,?EUR??,,????'?? said Joey Guedea of Pavestone Company in Dallas. ?EUR??,,????'??The landscape architect, contractor, artist and DART representative came to our manufacturing facility. By touring the plant, we were able to show firsthand the difference between a monochromatic color and a production blend. For example, a paver production blend for antique red will have approximately the first 10 percent of one primary monochromatic color. Then as the raw materials produce through the molds and machines, the colors will blend through a variety of percentages, starting at about 95 percent of one color to five percent of the second, and ending with five percent of the first color and 95 percent of the second. In color blends, no two stones are ever exactly the same, which provides a more innovative, yet natural look.

?EUR??,,????'??Ray Smith-installation contractor, and I created 10?EUR??,,????'??? x10?EUR??,,????'??? paver installation mock-ups,?EUR??,,????'?? Guedea explained. ?EUR??,,????'??With concrete pavestones, there is such a wide variety of shapes, colors, and textures to choose from. We were able to lay out all of the pavestone options, creating an artist pallet for her to choose the tools necessary to bring PMBR: (continued from page 16) life to her vision. She was then able to select the colors and finishes that would provide the harmony and contrast she sought. As she explained, the pavestone shape and color were critical to her vision of creating the abstract water flow throughout the station, dotted by the colors of stones found along the Duck Creek river bank. We were able to identify pavestone shapes, textures and a combination of production color blends and monochromatic colors to achieve the soft transition she envisioned.

The rail station expansion is part of a 30 city transportation plan to serve the growing needs of the Texas metroplex.

?EUR??,,????'??Additionally, the 10?EUR??,,????'??? x 10?EUR??,,????'??? sections enabled the specifier to determine pavestone color and shape quantities in preparing the construction documents for the 19,000-square-foot project,?EUR??,,????'?? Guedea explained. ?EUR??,,????'??This was important for subcontractors to efficiently and accurately bid installation.?EUR??,,????'??

?EUR??,,????'??Munoz is thrilled with the results. I assisted with the design, went on to other projects, and visited the station when it was completed. The construction followed the design well and gave the desired effect.?EUR??,,????'?? As a result of the new train station, the buildings immediately around it were revitalized, including a performing arts center and some residential development adjacent to the commercial core. Completed in June 2002, the station is expected to stimulate further revitalization and provides a visually attractive streetscape to the downtown area. Concrete pavestones will remain an essential part of each station as expansion continues. The Garland station reflects the nature. Oak Cliff, southwest of downtown Dallas, pays homage to her native son, the late blues guitarist, Stevie Ray Vaughn. The lyrics to his song, ?EUR??,,????'??Tick Tock?EUR??,,????'?? are engraved on Pavestone Signature pavers. The personalization of the rail stations?EUR??,,????'??? designs provide an invaluable ownership by the local citizens, and design flexibility for artists and architects.