Upon Viewing McCormick Place and a Visit to the Mid-Am Trade Show

January 29, 2009 3 Comments

By Nicholas Petty

Mid-Am 2009, McCormick Place. Photo: Nicholas Petty.

After intrepidly enduring a hyper-frigid (35 degrees below zero, apparently?!) public transportation episode from Bucktown to McCormick Place - one that included CTA, Metra, and a brief cab ride following a failed march across the frozen parade ground of Soldier Field - the irony of hosting an indoor mega-exposition dedicated to an inherently outdoor industry vanished in the face of reason before reason vacated the premises in favor of McCormick Place.

Whilst corralled through towering multi-tiered corridors and curtain glass atriums teeming with color-coded industry mavens, the scale of the largest convention complex in the nation quickly dawns. With over 2.6 million square feet of exhibition space dispersed between three low-lying main buildings (relatively speaking, of course) and countless additional square footage devoted at ground level to creating a network of impervious paving, the potential for reworking a site such as this to function for the future is immediately apparent.

McCormick Place represents a tremendous opportunity within the metropolitan area for the integration and demonstration of many sustainable site revisions. The horizontal surface area of the facility alone warrants the exploration of potential green roof, planting, and stormwater measures to offset the presence of this structure. Given the high visibility of the hypothetical results - provided by the constant influx of conference guests as well as the prominent siting and scale of the structures within a well-viewed vertical environment - the simple integration of such an effort would vault this otherwise deleterious juggernaut onto the list of iconic Chicago scenes. Proximity to Soldier Field, subject of many an overhead blimp shot during football season, would beam the verdant image of McCormick Place into millions of living rooms and could help cement the “green” image that Chicago is attempting to cultivate as a potential host for the 2016 Olympic Games and onward.

PR factors aside, to do so would greatly enhance the operational functionality of the complex itself through internal heating and energy savings, external urban heat island alleviation, and a slew of other benefits attributed to an increase in plant biomass within areas otherwise devoid of such amenities. To advance this goal, the barren southern facades sheathing those vertical exterior aspects - which might best be described as non-public (ignoring the street) - present a unique opportunity for large scale vertical gardening exercises that could be executed with comparable ease to enliven an otherwise inhospitable streetscape. Furthermore, stormwater design and horticultural measures might be introduced to address the non-descript, unfriendly, and fully paved plaza areas. Considered collectively, one can begin to envision a series of comprehensive large-scale improvements that would benefit an entire city.

And while this discussion of McCormick Place could easily be thrown into the “pipe dream” category for the time being, it remains - realistically speaking - that similar measures might still be taken to address similar concerns at smaller sites throughout the city using innovative products now available to tradesmen.

Enter the Mid-Am. To be sure, 2009 promises to be a big year (one way or another) for many businesses and organizations associated with improving landscapes urban and elsewhere. Though reports on the grandeur of previous versions of this event suggest a slimmer production this year under present economic conditions, the vast exhibition hall housing the show was nonetheless stocked high with the latest and greatest in horticultural to-do. Its expanse upon initial approach fortified the resolution to ignore frostbitten digital extremities for the moment and dive wholeheartedly into the green belly of the beast.
Hoping to encounter the novel ideas and product-based solutions that might encourage the evolution of urban sites such as McCormick Place, a mild sense of disappointment manifested with the lackluster atmosphere of the exhibition hall. There is always a carnival-like atmosphere to these types of productions that ultimately reeks of little else beyond commerce and spectacle. Not that there is anything wrong with that. After all, regardless of the idealism that frequently seeps into more progressive conceptions of landscape, business is ultimately the guiding factor in most equations (a reality some of us must be reminded of from time to time). Admittedly, trees, shrubs, and man-made water features remain the bread and butter of the landscape practitioner. Nonetheless, the general diversity of products on display at the exhibition was rather underwhelming.
Though there has been considerable discussion in certain professional circles regarding exciting new approaches to stormwater management, green roofing, structural soils, etc., that these novel tools are still far from commonplace (or affordable, in some cases) is often take for granted. However, to observe the popularity of those few displays marketing products associated with a revised approach to “business as usual” amongst an endless sea of flashy plant cultivars and hardscape materials was a good reassurance of the direction in which this industry may be headed.

Among my personal favorites was an expandable storage bladder manufactured by a Georgia-based company (sold here by Lake Street Landscape Supply) that can be placed effortlessly beneath crawl spaces or decks to collect and disperse stormwater without time-consuming excavations or unsightly ground-level appearances. I also found myself drawn to the display for Chicago-based Ozinga Concrete touting their new “Filtercrete” porous paving method. Apparently, there are a limited number of manufacturers and contractors in this area currently marketing or installing this type of pour-in-place system which, to many, represents the future standard for responsible surface paving. Hopefully, the applications for this type of product will continue to increase in the coming years as production methods are streamlined and installation becomes less of a chemistry experiment and more of an everyday option. On the other hand, green-roofing seems to have caught on in a very substantial manner. The number of participating businesses present that made reference to this ascending practice far exceeded that of any other “new” approaches on display, indicative of a burgeoning acceptance (and perhaps a lapsed “new” tag).

However, there were few, if any, materials, approaches, or products that would have been unfamiliar to one with their ear to the ground. In fact, more than anything, this trip to the Mid-Am Trade Show was an informative reminder as to how much work will be required to bring those vital products and approaches - which often tend occupy a peripheral presence in practice - into the more prominent popular sphere. Without question, it takes time and patience to remold, and perhaps reverse, the conceptions and procedures of the build environment that have crystallized over the years. However, the charge has become clear to all and, more importantly, the clock is ticking. See you next year!!!

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