Engineering Miracles...- IP May 2005

30 Illinois Parks and Recreation www.ILipra.org

by Don Dressel, PE and P. KayWhitlock, PE

Face it. No park board official or executive relishes the idea of being told by another unit of government that one of his or her parks is the only viable site for a water detention basin.

Park and recreation agencies, conservation agencies and forest preserves are hands down the units of local government best equipped to manage these green, sometimes very wet, spaces. But these agencies also are tasked with meeting the recreational needs of the communities they serve. Historically, detention areas have been of little to no use in this regard. In fact, they may have been considered environmental white elephants.

But those days are drawing to a close. With no value except for storing stormwater, the rectangular, trapezoidal basins of the early years have been rejected as ugly blights in our communities. Land is too highly valued and our population expects better solutions. That's why the engineering behind urban stormwater management has made progress in recent years. Such factors as environmental sensitivity, aesthetics and the idea of making the areas suitable for multiple purposes are entering into the design of stormwater detention areas.

This article examines the cases of two suburban districts that were asked to help their communities by dedicating parks to stormwater detention. Their stories show how park and recreation agencies can work in conjunction with other forms of government to mitigate an environmental problem, and, at the same time, retain the capacity to accomplish their mission to provide recreational opportunities. By using state-of-the-art engineering solutions, agencies like these have turned what could have been lost property into useful green space.

Pottawattomie Park: A Beautiful Flood Control Solution

Recently, Tinley Park-Park District partnered with the village to overcome chronic flooding problems at a subdivision near the district's Pottawattomie Park. During the late 1990's, several 100-year rainstorms swept through the area causing extensive street, yard and residential structure flooding. The water would run west off the park and past the first block or so of houses surrounding the park. Then it would settle in a natural depression a couple blocks from the park and cause major flooding to homes in that area.

In August 2001, the village hired a team of engineers to study the existing flooding problems and to recommend flood control alternatives to provide relief to the Timber's Edge Subdivision. One solution called for tearing up a mile of roadway and building a storm sewer that would take the water to a retention pond a mile away, which, according to John Curran, the district's executive director, would have cost approximately $5 million. The second, more economically viable alternative would mean some sacrifice on the part of the district and would require careful engineering to allow all parties to achieve their goals.

The village asked the district for five to six acres of Pottawattomie Park as a dry bottom floodwater storage facility. "The water really only needed to be contained for an hour or two, then it would begin to drain," says Curran. So, it seemed

The Village of Tinley Park asked for the park district's assistance to help prevent this kind of flooding to homes in the vicinity of Pottowattomi Park.

Before Pottawattomie Park became a dry bottom floodwoter storage facility, water would settle beside (and into) neighbors' houses (left). After the mitigation, the floods are less threatening (right).

www.ilparks.org May/June 2005 31

Some people not directly affected by the flooding were concerned about the changes. "But now that the work is done, the village and the residents are happy with how the project turned out."

impractical to build a new sewer. Still, the park had the potential of losing its ball diamonds and soccer field. The village gave the district 15 acres of land elsewhere to compensate for the loss and formed the Pottawattomie Park Steering Committee that was composed of village and park district officials, consulting engineers, landscape architects and Timber's Edge residents. The steering committee established design criteria for the function of the flood control facility and the amenities of the park. Together, the committee developed a plan to accomplish both the village's and the park district's goals: controlling flood damage and maintaining recreational opportunities at the park through the construction of a multi-purpose facility.

The Pottawattomie Park Flood Control Facility was designed to provide 100-year flood protection to the residential structures in the Timber's Edge Subdivision by providing 17 acre/foot of floodwater storage. However, contributions of this project to the residents of Timber's Edge are not limited to flood control. Although the park's ball diamond is smaller and now useful only for pick-up games, the solution has enhanced the beauty of the park, says Curran. In reconstructing the park, the district added many new amenities including a half-mile walking path, 70 new trees, a soccer field, rest areas with park benches and trash receptacles, a decorative bridge and an underdrain system, making the soccer field playable within hours after a storm.

At first, the plan was controversial, says Curran. Some people not directly affected by the flooding were concerned about the changes. "But now that the work is done, the village and the residents are happy with how the project turned out." The cooperation of the government agencies and the residents allowed the feasible engineering solution to work, representing a significant, successful effort to provide a dual-purpose park and flood control facility that benefits the community.

Roselle's Miraculous Parkside Park

When the village of Roselle approached the Roselle Park District asking to use part of its Parkside Park as a detention area, the district expected quite the opposite of a miracle. However, through cooperation with the village; partnerships with the Western DuPage Special Recreation Association, as well as private-sector organizations; and state-of the engineering, a miracle is what the district got.

When a new, much-welcomed condominium development wanted to locate downtown, stormwater storage became a concern for the village. Due to limited available land within the area, the village explored the feasibility of using the park district's Parkside Park to provide the required detention storage.

"The village approached the district and asked to use it," says Tom Kruse, the district's director of parks and recreation. The plan to use Parkside Park as a detention basin required lowering the park by several feet to provide the detention storage, an idea that cost the district two of its existing ball fields. The district understood the village's needs, but was unwilling to compromise its capacity to provide high quality park and recreation facilities.

The village and the district reached an agreement: with a $1.1 million influx, the village would help replace one pony league ball field at Parkside and add a skateboard/BMX facility. Further, the village would construct a maintenance garage and two other ball fields at other park district properties, plus install a wheelchair accessible ball diamond at Parkside.

That's when the district leveraged its goodwill in the community to create the Miracle League Baseball Field. This $400,000 facility features a special surface and ADA-accessible design that makes playing baseball possible for those who otherwise would have to participate only as spectators. The Miracle League Field is located next to the Marklund Center for the Disabled, and has become a very popular and loved recreation opportunity.

"Many organizations worked together to make the field happen," says Kruse. The local Rotary club provided hundreds of thousands of dollars of cash and in-kind contributions, while the Chicago White Sox gave $150,000 to the effort. (Sox players also were on hand for the ceremonial first pitch at the field's grand opening in May 2004.) The district also received help from the Western DuPage

32 Illinois Parks and Recreation www.ILipra.org

Special Recreation Association, which coordinates programming at the facility.

The Miracle League Field is an engineering triumph too, says Kruse. While there will be flooding at the site - it is a detention basin after all — the area is designed to keep water away from the recreation facilities. Kruse believes that the only time water will actually encroach upon the field and the skate park are during 100-year storm events. Those facilities have been built with that in mind. In fact, the engineering firm, Christopher B. Burke Engineering, Ltd., won the APWA-Chicago Metro Chapter 2004 Project of the Year Award for structures under $2 million for its work on the site.

"The park district needed to be made whole for what we lost," says Kruse. "We feel that we were. We wound up with a lot of great facilities for the community; and now, with the downtown construction complete, the village is starting to enjoy results of its downtown redevelopment."

Planning for the Perfect Storm

The cases of the projects at Roselle and Tinley Park are not the norm. However, these two cases do represent some of the possibilities of innovative stormwater design with intergovernmental cooperation. In fact, the list of successful projects is becoming long. So much so, that agencies and municipalities are now planning for these positive outcomes.

The Morton Arboretum already has one of the greenest parking lots around. Located in the floodplain of the East Branch of the DuPage River, the five-acre main lot drains its stormwater runoff into Meadow Lake. Its design includes:

1. "Eco-Loc™" Pavement that allows water to drain through the pavement to stormwater storage areas below the lot.

2. Depressed medians with plantings so that stormwater runoff from the lot will drain into medians and have a chance to be absorbed before draining into the storm sewer system.

3. A base material that contains up to 35 percent voids providing significant stormwater storage. The subsurface storage also recharges the groundwater table in the vicinity of the parking lot.

4. A storm sewer system that outlets into a wetland sedimentation basin before draining into Meadow Lake. This process filters out pollutants and provides cooling time for the flows.

The parking lot is used year round and is becoming a demonstration project on how stormwater and pollutants can be best handled in an urban environment.

But, the arboretum's commitment to stormwater management doesn't stop at the parking lot. The agency has prepared a stormwater management plan for the proposed build out outlined in its "Morton Arboretum Master Plan for Year 2020." That plan has already been approved by the DuPage County Department of Development and Environmental Concerns as a guideline for the giving the go ahead to more than $20 million worth of projects scheduled to be completed between 2000 and 2020 as part of the master plan. One aspect of the plan is the use of regional stormwater detention facilities. The 1,725-acre arboretum sits on three major watersheds in DuPage County. The stormwater management plan calls for the creation of only one stormwater management facility in each watershed. That way, rather than creating a hodge-podge of little detention areas, every development within each watershed will share the same one.

Similarly, in Will County, the Village of Bolingbrook is planning for its future stormwater management needs. Within the western portion of the village, the Lily Cache Creek flows through a largely undeveloped area consisting of farmland. The village anticipates the area will be rapidly developed and has decided to use a regional stormwater management facility to serve the future developments. Preliminary plans include five stormwater management basins located adjacent to the Lily Cache Creek to provide detention and floodplain storage for the future development.

By implementing the system in advance of developments, the village will realize time and cost savings. Constructed basins have been conveyed to the unit of government that can best manage them: the park district. But, according to Bolingbrook Park District Director Ray Ochromowicz, all parties come to this solution with the realization that wetland and water management is a village responsibility. The district only supports the dry areas and will be compensated for that.

Don Dressel and P. Kay Whitlock are water resource engineers at Christopher B. Burke Engineering, Ltd., a full service regional consuming engineering firm specializing in civil, municipal, water resources, mechanical, structural, construction, traffic and environmental engineering and environmental resource services. The company has nine offices. From inception, the company has focused on water resources and wetland/natural area restoration.