David M Lilly Plaza Reconstruction
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN
The David M Lilly Plaza is located on the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities Campus, situated between Northrop Memorial Auditorium and the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. The site is a hub of pedestrian campus activity between classes, breaks and university special events. Prior to construction the granite paver walkways were in a constant need of repair and as a result, the broken and missing pavers were accessibility and tripping hazards. Blackstone Contractors was contracted in 2013 to replace the broken and degraded pavers with concrete walkways, making a safer and easily maintainable surface. Granite aggregate was used in the concrete mix to incorporate granite-chip aggregates used elsewhere on site and was finished in a light broom and sandblast texture to impart the visual concrete pattern. Since the entire site lies directly above an underground parking ramp, extra care was taken during construction to minimize impacts to underground structure waterproofing and utilities.
