New Activity Center at Techny Prairie Park and Fields
Setting sights on a future of active play, health and fitness for the community, Northbrook Park District officials broke ground Wednesday, July 10 on your new Activity Center at Techny Prairie Park and Fields on the six-acre parcel purchased in 2011.
The Activity Center addresses four of the Top 5 Priorities for Investment for Programs, as identified in the CMP Community Survey:
The Activity Center is located in Techny Prairie Parks and Fields on an open six-acre parcel. The 44,200 square foot building is oriented along the east-west axis to maximize its solar exposure to the south for optimized daylighting and energy efficiency while taking advantage of great views of Anetsberger Golf Course and pond on the north. Approximately 150 parking spaces are added on the south side of the building and connected to the current parking lot across Anets Drive for shared use between building and other park activities.
November 12, 2020
Progress:
October 8, 2020
Progress:
Two-week Schedule
August 5, 2020
Progress:
Two-Week Schedule
July 10, 2020
Progress:
Two-Week Schedule
June 15, 2020
May 15, 2020
April 16, 2020
Current
Forthcoming
March 30, 2020
February 15, 2020
January 13, 2020
December 10, 2019
A mockup was completed of the precast concrete wall panels that will comprise the envelope of the building. A mockup is a small scale version of a typical precast wall panel that is reviewed to ensure the aesthetics and quality are acceptable prior to fabrication of the actual precast concrete wall panels for the building. These mockups indicated an example of a window opening and how the form liner design appears. The form liner creates the band of horizontal planks at varying depths. The mockup has not been painted, this is the raw unfinished concrete. The building’s precast concrete wall panels will be painted which will conceal any discoloration of the raw concrete. All precast concrete wall panels are currently being fabricated.
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ovember 5, 2019
October 2019
The building’s foundation was constructed. Exterior wall and interior column locations have been excavated for the foundations. The base of the foundation is called a footing, wood formwork is built and steel reinforcing bars (rebar) are laid out and then concrete is poured. Once the footings are complete the foundation wall is formed on top of the center of the footing using metal formwork. The rectangular-shaped formwork layout is the elevator pit, notice the steel rebar that reinforces the concrete foundation wall. Steel embed plates are provided at the top inside edge of the foundation wall that will be used to secure the precast concrete panels.
September 2019
Site utility piping and structures were delivered to the site and the ground was trenched to install them. Rain gardens at the parking lot were dug out and backfilled with stone.
August 2019
The overall site was graded for the parking lot and a flat pad was created for the building. Subsurface geopier supports were laid out with pink ground flags and installed.
July 2019 – Groundbreaking
Northbrook Park District Board members and employees along with representatives from design team—Wight & Company and construction—Corporate Construction attended a groundbreaking ceremony held on July 10, 2019. With heavy equipment on-site and active participation from the Park District project team—the ground was officially broken and dirt moved!
The Activity Center was designed by award-winning architectural and design team Wight & Company.
The building decor will be inspired by a painting titled Trail Through Time, which the District purchased at the Northbrook Plein-Air Painting Festival, that shows what Techny Prairie Park and Fields looked like nearly a century ago. The colors featured in Trail Through Time by Nyle Gordon, an American artist, will be carried throughout the building, and the original painting will be on display in the Center.
Incorporating the Northbrook Park District’s mission of environmental stewardship, the Activity Center will be constructed as a Net Zero Energy Building—a highly energy-efficient facility with the total calculated amount of energy used by the building being equal to or less than the amount of renewable energy created on-site.
The highly efficient building design includes:
Grant Information
