Menomonee Valley Redevelopment and Community Park
Landscape Performance Benefits
Environmental
- Increases developer yield (usable land) by 10 to 12% over conventional development by clustering development sites and consolidating stormwater management.
- Eliminates need for irrigation by using drought-tolerant native plants.
- Manages 100-year flood volumes for an over 100-acre basin while improving water quality.
Social
- Creates public access to the Menomonee River and over 60 acres of park/open space in an area that had been off-limits to the public for over 50 years.
- Catalyzed the use of the Menomonee River Valley as an outdoor science laboratory, which receives 10,000 student visits annually.
- Added 3 pedestrian/bicycle bridges and 7 miles of regional bike and pedestrian trails, linking greater Milwaukee and neighborhoods to the park, river, and valley.
Economic
- Increased development site property values by 1,400% between 2002 and 2009.
- Created 2,000 new jobs by 2006, with 5,000 new jobs estimated to be created by 2015.
- Generates over $1 million in annual City property tax revenues.
At a Glance
Designer
Wenk Associates
Project Type
Industrial park
Park/Open space
Stormwater management facilityFormer Land Use
Brownfield
Location
3301 W Canal Street
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53214
Map itClimate Zone
Humid continental
Size
140 acres
Budget
$40 million for development sites and remediation, $9 million for stormwater park
Completion Date
2006 (Phase I and II), construction ongoing
The Menomonee River Valley in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was a former industrial area that had, by the early 1990s, had become blighted and abandoned. The master plan for its sweeping revitalization in the early 2000s created a centralized park and shared stormwater treatment area as the centerpiece of a 140-acre light industrial redevelopment. The park offers over 60 acres of recreational space with revitalized landscape and habitat along the Menomonee River. The shared stormwater facility results in a higher development yield for individual property owners, allowing the City to remain extremely competitive when attracting businesses to the Valley.
Challenge
Milwaukee’s Menomonee River Valley was decimated by economic recession; it went from a highly productive industrial center to a place in ruins. Because the site was within the 100-year floodplain, the soil would not likely support building loads. Because of its industrial past, severe health risks were present and significant environmental contamination existed on site. The City needed to address these serious environmental concerns while also creating jobs.
Solution
The project team developed a unique fill management program that remediated contamination on site and raised the development sites out of the floodplain. To address water quality, the plan created a park as the centerpiece of the new development to treat and manage stormwater runoff for the entire basin while providing the community with access to the river and use of nearly 60 acres of open space.
- The 140-acre former brownfield was remediated as part of the valley’s redevelopment, reducing public health risks, protecting the river’s watershed, and making the site suitable for human use.
- Over 3,000 ft of the riverbank will be stabilized and restored, leading to larger habitat areas and a cleaner, healthier Menomonee River.
- Over 300,000 cu yds of contaminated debris and soil was managed on site to create historic glacial features and replicate native landscape communities of Southern Wisconsin.
- About 50,000 cu yds of concrete (from demolition during the I-94 Interchange reconstruction) was crushed and recycled to create a stormwater infiltration gallery below the surface of treatment wetlands.
- Local artists recycled glass from the Miller Brewing Company to create glass panels, which were incorporated into drainage outfall structures.
- Picnic tables were built from wood salvaged from the former Milwaukee Stockyards; benches were made from excess sewer pipe that would have gone to a landfill.
- Over 500 native trees were added to the site. 70% of the trees were planted by local student, community, and advocacy groups.
The park was constructed under financially challenging circumstances with zero capital from the City Parks Department. Grants and funders included the Wisconsin DNR, US EPA Great Lakes Initiative, Milwaukee Metro Sewerage District, and Menomonee Valley Business Partners.
By seeking “multiple-benefit” solutions, the City was able to combine several large infrastructure projects (environmental remediation, development site preparation, and Canal Street construction) and leverage costs in order to support projects that were mutually beneficial to the community and the environment: parks, open space, and environmental restoration.
Project Team
Landscape Architect: Wenk Associates, Inc.
Role of the Landscape Architect
The landscape architect led a multidisciplinary team of engineers, ecologists, and architects in the planning and design of the 140-acre park and industrial redevelopment.
