St. Charles' Aquascape Inc. Builds Oasis At Shaq’s Atlanta Home

ST. CHARLES, IL — A team from St. Charles’ Aquascape Inc. recently traveled to Atlanta to create an oasis for NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal.

Aquascape workers and artists spent three days building a pond that covers more than 1,000 square feet and a 70-foot-long stream in the Hall-of-Famer’s yard. The company also installed a sphere fountain with a Superman logo to pay tribute to one of O'Neal's many monikers, according to a news release.

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The project used nearly a quarter-million pounds of stone to create the 3-foot-deep pond and stream, the release states. The water feature now serves as the front yard of O’Neal’s custom treehouse.

Aquascape founder and CEO Greg Wittstock said he brought together a "dream team" of builders from around the world to create a "one-of-a-kind" water feature for O’Neal.

"We shared a singular goal in mind, to build a one-of-a-kind creation worthy of the front entranceway for the family compound of the man, the myth, and the legend himself, Shaquille O’Neal," Wittstock said. "Shaq was great to work with. We are both kids at heart and it was gracious of him to talk with one of our contractor’s sons who plays high school basketball."

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Five Aquascape employees from the region made the trek to Atlanta: Greg Wittstock, founder and CEO, of Wayne; Ed Beaulieu, vice president of field research and contractor development, of Sugar Grove; Brian Helfrich, vice president of construction, of Downers Grove; Chris Hanson, lead foreman, of Warrenville; and Nick Streicher, construction foreman, of St. Charles.

They were joined at O’Neal’s house by a team of Aquascape artists of the year, including Jaak Harju of Atlantis Water Gardens, John Adams of Modern Design Aquascaping, Chris Siewing of Nature’s Re-Creations, Dan Harp of Mark The Pond Guy, Weston Zimmerman of Tussey Landscaping, and Joey Genovese of Genoscape Inc. Landscaping & Design Services, the release states.