Over 400,000 quarries have been left abandoned and seemingly in a state of disrepair once their resources have been depleted or no longer valued. Before 1977, there were no laws or regulations in place to protect these sites. Owners and contractors were able to leave the site as is with tools, machinery, jagged rocks, slabs of cut stone, trash, and anything in between. This project explores the oldest marble quarry in the country, the Norcross-West marble quarry located in Dorset, Vermont. The design answers the question of how to repurpose this site by combining the site history to create educational opportunities, vegetation implementation to create habitats for at risk species, and sustainable practices such as marble carving and rainwater collection create a space that fulfills needs within the site that have long sense been forgotten. These practices reform the space and set a precedent for the dozens of other nearby abandoned and active quarry sites.
Over 400,000 quarries have been left abandoned and seemingly in a state of disrepair once their resources have been depleted or no longer valued. Before 1977, there were no laws or regulations in place to protect these sites. Owners and contractors were able to leave the site as is with tools, machinery, jagged rocks, slabs of cut stone, trash, and anything in between. This project explores the oldest marble quarry in the country, the Norcross-West marble quarry located in Dorset, Vermont. The design answers the question of how to repurpose this site by combining the site history to create educational opportunities, vegetation implementation to create habitats for at risk species, and sustainable practices such as marble carving and rainwater collection create a space that fulfills needs within the site that have long sense been forgotten. These practices reform the space and set a precedent for the dozens of other nearby abandoned and active quarry sites.