Southern Indiana's limestone is on display in one of the most talked-about buildings in sports the new Yankee Stadium.
The standard buff Indiana limestone used in the
$1.5 billion stadium was supplied by Indiana Limestone Fabricators of
Spencer. There has also been major involvement by at least two other
firms Indiana Limestone Co. and W. F. Meyers Co., both of Bedford.
"The stone was quarried by Indiana Limestone Co.
from a quarry located less than a mile from the one from which stone
for the Empire State Building was quarried in 1930," said Jim Owens,
executive director of the Indiana Limestone Institute.
"The stone was fabricated by Indiana Limestone
Fabricators and shipped on A-frames on edge to protect the stone from
breakage, to BPDL Inc., a family-owned precast company in Alma,
Quebec."
There it was attached to precast panels and
shipped to the Bronx. Each composite panel included an estimated 10 to
20 pieces, and this system allowed the panels to be erected
expeditiously by the setter, Conventional Stone and Marble of Mineola,
N.Y.
"There was a total of 10,823 pieces amounting to
72,000 square feet of Indiana limestone on the precast façade, along
with some 30,000 square feet of granite," Owens said. "The V-cut
letters in the limestone at each entrance were cut at the mill,
utilizing Computer Numeric Controlled (CNC) cutting technology, which
has replaced the traditional hand-cutting methods in many parts of the
stone industry."
In order to achieve the demanding production
schedule required for the project, Indiana Limestone Fabricators
purchased a custom-designed machine and built an addition to its
facility for the machine, which provided the stone finish. The machine
was designed and built by W. F. Meyers Co.
When it was decided to build a new stadium, the
architect, HOK Sport out of Kansas City, and Tishman-Speyer, the
developer that served as the owner's representative for the Yankees,
selected Indiana limestone as one of the products for the stadium,
Owens said.
"Tishman-Speyer paid a visit to the mill on two
occasions and provided a flag for mill employees," he added. "That flag
is housed in the building addition where the majority of the work was
done."
Select Buff Indiana Limestone quarried by
Victor-Oolitic Stone Co. of Bloomington and also fabricated by Indiana
Limestone Fabricators was used in the Great Hall and on the "Legends
Suites" boxes in the stadium.
The historic Yankee Stadium was built in 1923 and
renovated in 1975. When a decision was made to construct the new
stadium, the growing importance of luxury boxes found in newer stadiums
was among considerations.
"Luxury boxes are a major source of revenue for
teams," Owens said. "The existing stadium had 10 luxury boxes, and
another renovation would add few if any more. But a new stadium could
be built that would have 56 luxury suites, while only reducing the
regular seat total by about 4,000."
Its importance as a tourist attraction was another
reason to consider erecting a new stadium. For numerous visitors to New
York, the sites to see include the Empire State Building, Rockefeller
Center, Grand Central Station and Yankee Stadium.
"Unless there was a game in the stadium, visitors
were unable to enter the structure just walk around the outside," Owens
pointed out. "The new stadium solved that problem, since it includes a
museum and restaurants that are open year-round."