Maine, Solid as a Rock

Maine granite graces Yankee Stadium

Working Waterfront 4/24/2009

Granite from Crotch Island was used in the Babe Ruth plaza.

With all the hoopla surrounding the opening of the new, $1.5 billion Yankee Stadium, most media have overlooked one irony: as fans stream through the massive gates, they walk right by Deer Isle granite, quarried by die-hard Red Sox fans.

Third-generation stone setter Bill Pues, of Conventional Stone and Masonry in Mineola, New York, set the Deer Isle granite, as well as Indiana limestone, in Yankee Stadium.

It was on his recommendation that the New York Yankees chose to use Deer Isle granite. "There is nothing better that can replicate a landmark than those (Maine) stones," Pues said. Planter boxes were also made of the Maine stone.

...In fact Maine granite can be found coast to coast, from the Security Trust and Savings Bank in Los Angeles, to the breakwater in New Orleans, to the John F. Kennedy Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery. In addition to Yankee Stadium, Maine granite can be found throughout the New York metropolitan area, from the foundations for the Manhattan and George Washington Bridges, to the New York Custom House, the New York County Courthouse, the Isaiah Wall at the United Nations and the Statue of Liberty, among many other buildings...

FMI