Barr developed a complete parking-lot redesign for the Eagan city campus, which includes city hall, police headquarters, an ice arena, and the Cascade Bay Water Park. While stormwater management and treatment is required for all new developments and redeveloping areas in the city, this project demonstrates the city’s commitment to protecting its water resources by implementing such practices at its own facilities.
The parking-lot redesign focuses on innovative, highly functional stormwater-management techniques that reduce water-quality impacts to nearby Keller Lake. It also demonstrates to local landowners, developers, and designers that BMPs can be aesthetically pleasing, effective, and affordably replicated. Infiltration and filtration rain gardens and tree trenches, as well as permeable pavers that store and treat runoff from building roofs, drive lanes, and a four-acre parking lot, are all part of the redesign. The tree trenches were strategically placed to shade and cool the parking-lot surface, protecting barefooted water-park guests.
This project was divided into two phases; the City Hall Parking lot and the water-park parking lot and entry plaza. Both phases of the project will be substantially completed in the spring of 2020. Water-quality education for school children and other visitors is another key component. The city plans to make the facilities available for Eagan High School science classes and the School of Environmental Studies, which partners with the Minnesota Zoo.