Working with the Columbus and Franklin County Metropolitan Park District (Metro Parks), the City of Columbus, and the National Audubon Society, B&N served as the site Certified Professional overseeing mitigation of Whittier Peninsula’s environmental issues through the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s Voluntary Action Program.
B&N also was responsible for the civil/site design of the improvements, which included the Audubon Nature Center and Scioto Audubon Metro Park. As a part of the site design, B&N evaluated several alternatives for the management of site stormwater. This included reviewing the estimated cost, effectiveness, maintenance requirements, and safety features of each alternative. The final site design incorporated green infrastructure solutions, including a vegetated roof, rain gardens, constructed wetlands, bioswales, vegetated filter strips, pervious pavements, and a dry storage basin for the control of both stormwater quantity and quality leaving the site.
The site design incorporated these storm management features around the required site environmental mitigation to minimize both the environmental impacts and cost of the park development. Keys to accomplish this objective were repurposing of selected building slabs as parking facilities, reuse of demolition materials on-site for the new development, and selectively locating wetlands to minimize earthwork requirements.
B&N has continued to assist Metro Parks beyond the initial park construction with the development of maintenance strategies for these low-impact, ecologically-friendly design features. The Audubon Center has subsequently developed K-12 educational programs around the site redevelopment and these stormwater management features, while Metro Parks have also established both passive and active outdoor activities around the site.
These green designs exceed current regulatory requirements for both improvements to the quality of stormwater leaving the site, as well as controlling the rate of runoff.
Project Components:
- Site development and engineering
- Reporting
- Regulation, negotiation with EPA
- Green infrastructure design
- Environmental mitigation through removal of selected impacted soils
- Permitting
- Roadway design
- Stormwater design
- Utility relocation
This project was awarded the Environmental Stewardship Project of the Year by the Ohio Department of Development.