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From quarry to sustainable urban park

Henry Palmisano Park (Stearn's Quarry)

Location Chicago, Illinois
Client Chicago Park District
Expertise Resilience & Sustainability, Inclusive & Accessible Design, Horticulture & Arboriculture
Size 27 acres
Completion 2010

Reclaiming an Industrial Legacy

Located in Chicago’s historic Bridgeport neighborhood, Henry Palmisano Park is a 27-acre ecological landscape built upon a site shaped by more than a century of industrial use.

For much of the early 20th century, the site operated as Stearn’s Quarry, a privately owned limestone quarry that reached nearly 380 feet in depth. When quarry operations ceased in 1969, the land was sold and eventually used by the City of Chicago as a landfill for construction debris. 

The Mayor and City officials inspect a possible site for a Dome Stadium

Chicago History Museum, circa 1985

Explore

Legend
Prev
Next

Tiered Wetland

Fishing Pond

Elevated Walkway

Prairie

Accessible Path

Sledding Hill

Boulder Scramble

Through the collaboration of three City of Chicago agencies and years of community visioning, the site was transformed into an environmentally focused park centered on education, ecological restoration, and material reuse. Designed to celebrate the site’s geological history and industrial past, the park features recycled limestone and concrete elements, elevated walkways, and angular paths that contrast with expansive prairie plantings and restored habitats.

1990s - Construction Landfill
2009 - Community Park

A Living System

Today, universally accessible paths and nature trails wind through wetlands, native plantings, and wildlife habitats that support birds, fish, and pollinators. 

A sculptural water feature initiates a visible stormwater cycle, guiding water through terraced wetland basins before feeding a two-acre fishing pond formed from the former quarry pit. Bioretention systems manage rainfall across the site, demonstrating sustainable stormwater practices while creating a diverse collection of ecological habitats.

Henry palmisano park dusky play site design group

Rising above the landscape, a 33-foot-high mound – affectionately named “Mount Bridgeport” by locals – was created from construction debris displaced from the re-grading of the site and offers sweeping views of the park and Chicago’s skyline. Together, the park’s nature trails, wetland habitats, native plantings, and recycled materials reflect a design vision centered on environmental stewardship, education, and the reclamation of a once-industrial landscape into a resilient public space.

Collaborators

D.I.R.T. Studio

Conceptual Design

Weston Solutions

Civil and Environmental Engineer

Awards

  • 2012 Chicago Wilderness Conservation and Native Landscaping Award
  • 2010 Illinois ASLA Honor Award, Environmental Stewardship
  • 2010 Illinois Landscape Contractors Association Silver Award, Excellence in Landscape
  • 2010 The Chicago Atheneaum American Architecture Award
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