University of Chicago's Smart Museum Commission

"This majestic Grand Canyon of the South Suburbs we call the Thornton Composite Reservoir is more than an engineered chasm of limestone. It is functionally keeping our communities dry and our water clean. The reservoir’s impact is equal to its size and stature. It protects 556,000 people in Chicago and 13 suburban communities from flooding and reduces pollution in our waterways.” -Barbara McGowan, vice president of MWRDGC⁠
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At the edge of the Thornton Quarry, I’m struck by its scale and its layered uses. Still actively mined for limestone, this part of the quarry has become a reservoir—a massive project designed to hold nearly 8 billion gallons of water to prevent flooding and sewage overflows in parts of Chicago’s south side. Thornton Composite Reservoir ends up being “the largest combined sewer overflow facility in the world.”

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Thornton Quarry is a place of ongoing extraction and now also a critical piece of flood mitigation infrastructure. The limestone has been used in highways throughout the midwest, buildings throughout downtown Chicago and further - materials are shipped by rail all of the way to the coasts for special projects.

What do I depend on that is the result of what’s been mined from this quarry? ⁠

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For me, this quarry is a reminder of how much infrastructure depends on massive acts of extraction that most especially affect neighbors, and how these same sites, with all their complexities, may be repurposed. ⁠
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It keeps me up at night. 

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