Deep in the heart of Texas is a very deep golf course.
It’s truly the pits. Nine of its 18 holes are in a huge hole in the ground-an abandoned quarry.
New homes ring the 100-foot-high cliffs above the excavation, while, down below, the floor of the quarry is a green blanket of grass dotted with sand traps.
A massive recycling job created the Quarry Golf Course at the former Alamo Cement Co. site in San Antonio. The golf course is part of the ongoing 475-acre Lincoln Heights project, which also includes retail, office and residential uses.
The San Antonio quarry redevelopment isn’t unique. Across the country, and including several sites in the Chicago area, developers are pursuing quarries that have fulfilled their mining purpose and now offer promise for adaptive reuse.
In many cases, otherwise unattractive quarries that were once on the outskirts of metropolitan areas have been surrounded by the outward sprawl of development, making these sites prime candidates for more valuable uses.
At one of them-Cantera in west suburban Warrenville-redevelopment will transform a former stone quarry into one of Du Page County’s largest business parks when it is completed in 20 years.
Ground was broken late last month for the first building at the 650-acre mixed-use development at the former Elmhurst-Chicago Stone Co. excavation site.
Why tackle the sizable problems of redeveloping a quarry?
Michael Haney, vice president at LaSalle Partners, one of the principals in the Cantera project, admitted that a quarry presents more challenges than, say, open farmland.
“But the benefits warranted taking on those challenges. This was an in-fill site at an established location (on the Interstate Highway 88 business corridor), it has outstanding access at the four-way interchange on the tollway, and the City of Warrenville was very supportive,” Haney said.
In fact, progress at Cantera will be visible from the East-West Tollway, which bisects the site near Winfield Road.
Now under construction is a 22,800-square-foot build-to-suit facility of Ellison Machinery & Robotics Co. A privately held firm that specializes in computer-controlled machine tools and robots, Ellison will move its Midwest customer service support center from Lombard.
Completion of the one-story structure on 2.5 acres of land is expected in December. It is being built by Rosemont-based McShane Construction Corp.
“Cantera’s campus-style layout is well-suited to our intent of creating a user-friendly customer training facility,” said Tim Kilty, president of the Midwest region of Los Angeles-based Ellison.
When complete, the $1.5 billion Cantera project will have 4.7 million square feet of offices, 3 million square feet of light industrial, and 600 multifamily residential units. Retail, hotel, and recreational developments also are planned.
Cantera is being developed by Warrenville Development Limited Partnership, a venture of AmProps Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Amoco Corp.), Elmhurst-Chicago Stone Co. and LaSalle Partners.
Haney said site plan approval is being sought from Warrenville for a 200,000-square-foot office building that would break ground next spring.
The quarry ceased operation in 1988, and the site plan for Cantera was approved last year by the city. The property covers a square mile, or 20 percent of the entire land area of Warrenville.
The debut of Cantera is a victory for Mayor Vivian Lund of Warrenville. “I included it as a plank in my election campaign in 1984, and started working on it in 1986,” she said. “But not everyone agreed with me. It was a real strain to make people understand the long-term benefits. Since Warrenville is mostly residential, it has a very small commercial tax base. Cantera will help balance the tax base. It will have a very significant impact on the city’s economic development.”
She stressed that the site was used for strip mining of gravel: “It was never a pit, a deep stone quarry.”
Warrenville city administrator James Connors said the approval process was lengthy and involved: “We wanted a master plan. We have a vision of what we want, and now we know how it will turn out.”
A major component in the future success of Cantera was completed last fall-the new four-way interchange at the tollway and Winfield Road. The development partners contributed land for the interchange and paid 25 percent of construction costs. The Illinois State Tollway Authority picked up the balance of the $8.1 million project.
Also completed last fall was the first phase of water and sewer infrastructure.
The final planting of wetlands was completed last month. More than 100 different species of native plants have been planted on 56 acres of natural areas. The prairie plantings are expected to offer a habitat for wildlife.
The natural areas now include a 1.5-mile riverwalk on a 15-acre site, a 30-acre wetland/prairie nature preserve and an 11-acre lake with adjoining wetlands.
The existing lake on the north side of the tollway will be filled in once the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is satisfied with the water quality at a new lake on the south side of the tollway, Haney said.
The wetlands were strategically placed adjacent to the West Branch of the Du Page River, which runs along the southwestern end of the property.
The landscaping development was necessary because the ecology of Cantera had been marred by gravel-washing basins used in the site’s former quarry operation.
David Molitor, landscape architect for the City of Warrenville, put his stamp of approval on Cantera’s landscape plans, saying, “The landscaping will enhance the value of this property for years to come.”
The next development at Cantera likely will be residential. Awaiting final approval from the city are two proposals. A total of 344 apartments are proposed for 28 acres on the south side of Warrenville Road. It would be a joint venture between Village Green Companies and Concord Development.
Concord Development also wants to build 160 townhouse units on 28 acres flanking Winfield Road. If approved, both projects would start this fall, Haney said.
Golf and quarries seem made for each other.
A 35-acre public golf center will be a part of Cantera. It will include a 3,500-square-foot clubhouse and 18-acre practice range with 80 outdoor tee stations, a par-3 hole, and a putting and pitching area.
Golf Sport Management Inc. is the developer/manager for the year-around golf center, which is expected to open in the fall.
Another quarry with a redefined future is in northwest suburban Crystal Lake.
When the supply of gravel at the Vulcan Materials Co. quarry is gone, the property will be converted for recreational uses.
“We expect that will happen in the next couple of years,” said city manager Joe Misurelli.
The city already has the deed to the site, which includes two lakes.
One of the lakes is 330 acres, about 40 to 50 feet deep, and already is stocked with fish. (By comparison, the lake the city is named for is only 238 acres.)
“The other lake at the quarry, about 40 to 50 acres, will be near a wildlife refuge and wetlands. A 20- to 30-acre park will be between the two lakes,” Misurelli said.
The city council has appointed a committee for planning the new uses of the quarry, which will be water oriented.
Redevelopment of quarries often solves a negative environmental issue.
In San Antonio, for example, the golf course at the quarry was completed in 1993 at what was considered one of the city’s worst eyesores. When Alamo Cement ceased operations in 1986, the property was barren, desolate, and scarred from 80 years of use.
How the troubled site was reclaimed was the topic of a workshop at the Urban Land Institute’s spring meeting in San Antonio.
After analysis, plans emerged for the Lincoln Heights project, which includes 300 single-family homes in the $300,000 to $1 million-plus range, garden homes in the $220,000 range, a 260-unit assisted care living facility, a 300-unit apartment project, a neighborhood retail center, and the golf course.
The back nine was sculpted from rough terrain in the 87-acre limestone pit, while the front nine was built on otherwise undevelopable land. The course’s signature hole, No. 17, requires a 175-foot tee shot across the canyon.
Two existing lakes became part of the stormwater system.
Of the structures at the old plant site, the original laboratory and office building will be incorporated into a microbrewery.
