Tianfang Wang Department of Landscape Architecture Uniersity of Minnesota MLA Capstone Book 2013
New Ruins
——Pigs' Eye Lake Reclaiming Brownfield as a Park
Contents Acknowledgement ...................................................................................... Preface ...................................................................................................... Introduction ................................................................................................ Questions .................................................................................................. Definitions .................................................................................................. Case Studies .............................................................................................. Site lntroduction .......................................................................................... Site Issue .................................................................................................... Design Target ............................................................................................. Scope .......................................................................................................... Design Approach ........................................................................................ Design Analysis............................................................................................ Masterplan .................................................................................................. Detail Design .............................................................................................. Pavement .................................................................................................. Plant Species ............................................................................................. Bibliography ...............................................................................................
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Acknowledgement Committee Members
Instructors
Family
Committee Chair, Matthew Tucker Research Insructor, John Koepke Capstone Coordinator, Vincent deBritto
Rebecca Krinke Patrick Nunnally
Yuxin Zhou Jing Li and Yanhua Wang
Preface There are no other countries like America which has so many abandoned brownfields because this country is so developed and there were so many industrial sites. Brownfield reclamation is a long-term issue for the government, and American society. Both the public and companies are trying to reuse the site and make them a part of the urbanized city, and make the residents around satisfied. Additionally, by doing this, it can save money and resource, beautifying the environment and make full use of the land. Luckily it has been made possible by applying new technologies and theories.
Introduction My interest focuses on the designing of waterfront industrial landscape and brownfield reclamation. As we move rapidly from industrial economies to service economies, our industrial landscape shifts in purpose. Those landscapes which are not reconfigured for industry are often re-purposed as public amenities and waterfront development. Besides, brownfield is a crucial issue in the US nowadays. Since American industry had been so developed and began to decline in the past few decades, there were more and more abandoned industrial site left all over the city. According to Alan Berger, taking the New York City as an example, the city's manufacturing jobs fell from 1 million in the 1950s to about two hundred thousand in 2001. And this caused social issues and problems, such as contamination, wasting and unsustainability for the urbanized areas and communities. The term brownfield originated in the early 1990s when researchers saw how emerging regulatory frameworks designed to protect the environment were, as a side effect, inhibiting the reuse, cleanup and redevelopment of former industrial and commercial sites. By taking full advantage of existing infrastructure, brownfieId take center stage in a sustainable planning strategy of thwarting sprawl, preserving open space, and reducing greenhouse emissions and reinvesting in urbanized areas and their communities. So my initial target is to use both ecological approaches and engineering techniques to reclaim and redevelopment the brownfield site. so that the abandoned area could have a new life to the public. In my capstone project, I chose pigs eye lake industrial park along Mississippi River as my site and assume the industries will be moving away some time in the future. My vision is to turn the post industrial site into a park.
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Questions Can a contaminated brown field be a site for neighborhood and regional sustenace by reclaimation and restoretion, and habitat alongside art, poetic space, and recreation, especially by waterfront areas? The specific questions that I want to address in my capstone are listed below, 1) .How to apply a region's ecological theories to design a better connected landscape which can be a part of the natural ecology system? 2) .How to do a thorough research about the contaminated condition of the site and choosing the right reclamation engineering method and plant communities so that the site can be better restored? 3). How to make sure what design method should be applied to make the site more attractive to people and be like a part of the whole urban plan? 4). How to think of a people-friendly space which takes human scale into consideration, including walking, biking and watching, etc?
Definitions Brownfield: The U.S. Environment Protection Agency defines brownfields as "idle real property, the development or improvement of which is impaired by real or perceived contamination ." Deindustrilization: to cause to lose industrial capability or strength; make less industrial in character or emphasis. Urbanization: to develop a rural area with dense concentration of human populations (esp a predominantly rural area or country) more industrialized. Bioremediation: the use of plants to extract heavy metals from contaminated soils and water especially brownfield site.
Case Studies 3 cases are included. AII of them are related to the reclamation of waterfront brownfield reclamation and be turned into wetlands or wetlands related recreation public spaces. These projects focused on improving urban life and providing recreational spaces for citizens. lndustrial relics were widely used and be transformed into structures and functional buildings like concert buildings(westergasfabriek park). Eco-system was built in these projects and water was treated within these systems especially in the Shanghai Houtan Park.
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Westergasfabriek Park Westergasfabriek, a 19th-century factory on the outskirts of central Amsterdam, halted operations in 1981. The site was rezoned as a recreation space. The Westergasfabriek Cultural park is a radical regeneration of a former gasworks - 13 hectares of cutting edge public parkland. The scheme now offers aquatic gardens in former gasholders, market squares, an events field capable of accommodating 10,000 people, woodland areas, a stream and water gardens. The park also includes cafes, restaurants, an art gallery, a playground, a cinema, a dance studio, an art house, a food laboratory and a children's museum. Gustafson Porter has developed a refined plan that is faithful to the original proposal in its creation of park zones that relate specifically to existing site elements and contexts.
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Shanghai Houtan Park The site is a narrow linear 14-hectare (34.6-acre) band located along the Huangpu River waterfront in Shanghai, China. This brownfield, previousIy owned by a steel factory and a shipyard, had few industrial structures remaining and the site was largely used as a landfill and laydown yard for industrial materials. Houtan Park demonstrates a living system where ecological infrastructure can provide muItiple services for society and nature and new ecological water treatment and flood control methods. The postindustrial design demonstrates an unique productive landscape evoking the memories of the past and the future of the ecological civilization, paying homage to a new aesthetics based on low maintenance and high performance landscapes. The park's constructed wetland, ecological flood control, reclaimed industrial structures, and urban agriculture are integral components of an overall restorative design strategy to treat contaminated river water and recover the degraded waterfront in an aesthetically pleasing way.
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Tianjin Qiaoyuan Park This is a park of twenty-two hectares (fifty-four acres) in the northern coastal city of Tianjin, China. The site was heavy polluted, littered, deserted, and surrounded with slums and temporary rickety structures, which had been torn down before the design was commissioned The overall design goal for this project is to create a park that can provide a diversity of nature's services for the city and the surrounding urban residents, including: containing and purifying urban storm water; irnproving the saline-alkali soil through natural processes; recovering the regional landscape with low maintenance native vegetation; providing opportunities for environmental education about native landscapes and natural systems, storm water management soil improvernent and landscape sustainability; creating a cherished aesthetic expenence. This project helps to define the new aesthetics of landscape today, defined by a continuous evolving process. Untidy forms, unplanned biodiversity and nature's "messiness" keep on going, letting plants live and expose their genuine beauty to enrich the landscape. The ecologydriven adaptation palettes has become a valuable and remarkable site of the community of Tianjin.
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Site Introduction Pigs Eye Lake is a large riverine wetland and a significant regional waterbody. The lake is a DNR protected water, with a surface area of 628 acres and a maximum depth of 4 feet. The shallow waterbody is in the floodplain of the Mississippi River and receives discharge from the Battle Creek subwatershed, as well as the Highwood Avenue, Blufflands drainage districts of the Blufflands subwatershed. The location and land use surrounding Pigs Eye Lake preclude it from significant recreational use. The lake is a valuable wildlife habitat resource and is home to a considerable variety of birds and mammals. It contains one of the largest heron and egret rookeries in a metropolitan area in the upper midwest. Recently eagles have established nests there and some of them winter there. The peninsula where the rookery is, is protected by the Department of Natural Resources as a scientific and Natural Area. The area provides spectacular bird watching. The herons and egrets return to St. Paul around St. Patrick's Day, March 17. Best bird watching is on the south side of the Mississippi River from the bluffs in south St. Paul. Since Pigs Eye Lake is connected to the Mississippi River, the level of the lake is controlled by the stage of the river. Pig's Eye was a dump. Beginning in the 1950s, it was the unofficial drop-off point for more than a half-million tons of household junk, city garbage, lead acid batteries, barrels of toxic waste, and more. It 's leaked pollution into nearby Pig's Eye Lake and the Mississippi River ever since. Now, the state is finally moving to try to contain the problem.
Battle Creek
Downtown Minneapolis
13.5 Miles
Pig's Eye Lake
Downtown St Paul
Highway 494
North Star Lake
4.8 Miles Pigs Eye Lake Area
Highway 10 Redrock Passenger Line
Mississippi River
Fish Creek Red Rock Road
Location Water Map Traffic Map The pig’s eye lake industrial area is a peninsula located next to pig’s eye lake, along Mississippi River, and to the south side of St Paul downtown. It has a distance of 4.8 miles away from St Paul downtown and 13.8 miles away from Minneapolis downtown.
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There are Mississippi River, Battle Creek and Fish Creek converging at the spot. Pig’s eye lake and north star lake located around the site. From this we can see that this site is a very important confluence and have at least four opportunities to view the water: pig’s eye lake as big open water, north star lake as inner water, channel as narrow water and Mississippi as wide river. Highway 494 and 10 are next to the site and a railroad is just alongside the highway 10.The only entrance to the site now is the red rock road. While the government is working on a red rock passenger line using the existing railroad, there will be a railway station nearby in the future. State Highway 61 and rail yards are majoror barriers to get to the Mississippi River and Pig's Eye Lake. Further study of the area is needed to define where public access is possible and where land should continue to be restricted for environmental protectionand river-re lated industries. Where physical access is restricted, developing view corridors will provide adifferent kind of natural experience for the adjacent neighborhoods. Furthermore, improving the trail systems and strategic land acquisition will better connect Battle Creek Regional Park, neighborhoods, and visitors to the Floodplain reach. 06
Historical Water Channel
Based on the historical maps, the pigs eye lake peninsular has changed a lot during past 100 years. The Pigs' Eye Lake industrial Park began in 1987 and the peninsular had settled down from then on.
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Historical Crest Crest information during past 2 decades showed that the peninsular had never been flooded even on almost 100 year flooding water level(713'). Based on the Minnesota Building Finishing Floor Elevation Standard, buildings should be built 1 foot higher than 100 years flooding event. So the flood won't be a major consideration of design.
Landcover Map
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The left bank in this area is a Minnesota Scientific and Natural Area, including the largest Great Blue Heron rookery in the metropolitan area. Also nesting in this area are Egrets, Cormorants, Yellow-crowned Night Herons, and many water birds and ducks. The area is accessible by boat only, and a permit is necessary to visit the area from April 1 to July 15 in order to protect the nesting birds. The land cover map shows that if the site is made as a park, there will be a green circle around the pig’s eye lake. There are 3 important reasons for the circle, Firstly creating a space with potentials to reach the whole site because that the peninsula is the only accessible site of the whole circle. Secondly, protecting the pig’s eye lake habitat. Thirdly, serving residents living around.
Forestry Marsh Prairie Developed Area Mixed Used Area Water
Locations Gerdau Ameristeel
Peavey Redrock Elevator
The north star lake
AMG Barton Hawkins, Resource Enterprises Inc. Coorporation
Site Photos
Pig's Eye Lake Industrial Park in 1964
Pig's Eye Lake Industrial Park Current Condition
The Pigs' Eye Lake peninsular has changed dramaticly during years. The Gerdau Ameristeel was founded first before 1964, and the rest of the industries was founded in 1987, when the Minnesota Government decided to develop the peninsular as an industrial park. The whole site is elevated above the 100 year flooding level, which is 713'. There are 5 main factories on site.
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Site Photos
The north star lake
The inner lake is called the North Star lake. It is used to be contaminated because of the industries around. Gerdau Americansteel company is responsible foe the water and last year, the company spend 3,000,000 dollars on cleaning the water. So the water quality is good now and in futher design, the North Star Lake will be dredged and connected to the Pigs' Eye Lake.
Peavey Redrock Grain Elevator located on the northest side of the peninsular. It has a business of grain and fertilizer storage. There is the highest superstructure on site as high as 150' tall. The contamination fact for this site are nitrogen, phosphorous, etc. Red rock elevator
The Hawkins is a cement producer built in 1987. It has a very bad effect on environment, especially physical harzard which is bad for people's breathing system. Hawkins
Gerdau Americansteel is the largest and earliest factory working on steel mill. It is in charge of the north star lake. This is a heavily contaminated site including heavy metals, and physical harzard. The large superstructure has great potentials to be reprogrammed as other uses. Gerdau Ameristeel
The AMG Resource is a metal scrap company built in 1987 together with the redrock industrial park. The contamination fact here is heavy metals and physical harzard. AMG Resource
The Barton Enterprises has 11 tanks containing 26 million gallons of oil. It has a business in asphalt. The contamination fact here is organic chemicals. Barton Enterprises
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Typical Materials
Metal Fence
Metal Wall
Concrete
Gravels
Rip-rap
Asphalt
Rebar
Rail Road
The most common material on site is rebar because that there are two large steel mill company -- AMG Resource and Gerdau Ameristeel -- on site. Materials on site can be reused to save money by designing.
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Superstructures on Site
Steel Plant
Oil Tanks
Grain Elevator Plant Grain Elevator
Asphalt Plant Cement Plant
Waste Distribution Plant
Scale 12
100'
Issues 1. Environmental Damage Environmental damage including erosion, habitat loss and contamination.Because old dumps are locations where uncontrolled disposal took place in the past, both solid waste (including household garbage, demolition wastes, nonhazardous industrial wastes, and others) and hazardous wastes are usually present. At the Pig's Eye Dump, several types of waste that pose environmental risks are exposed and leaking or running off into the river and lake. • Heavy metals, such as lead, cadmium and mercury have known health and environmental impacts. Wastes such as lead-acidcar batteries, mercury and cadmium batteries, pigments, mercury switches, and other productscontain heavy metals Research indicates that these metals may be "endocrine disrupters" that mimic or disrupt natural processes In the body. both humans and animals are affected by heavy metals. • Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCbs) are a mixture of individual chemicals no longer produced in the United States, but still found in the environment. PCbs remain in soil or sediment a long time after they leak or spill. Many PCbs found in the environment come from old electrical transformers. • Leachate is produced when water seeps or flows through buried wastes, picking up pollutants. The best way to describe leachate would be "garbage juice". Therefore, where the Pig's Eye Dump is eroded, especially where the stream flows through it, water is in contact with garbage, creating leachate run-off. Leachate also sinks down to contaminate ground water, which can then move underground -- in this case toward the Mississippi River and Pig's Eye Lake.
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2. Public health hazard According a survey people live with half mile of a asphalt plant will have a health deterioration within 2 years after the industry open. While the site isn't considered to be a major health risk, it does pose significant environmental risks. These are particularly important to wildlife, including a blue heron rookery located south of the Pig's Eye Lake. Among the specific environmental risks are: • Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are solvent chemicals that include ethylbenzene and xylene (both are components of petroleum products). • Other industrial and home chemicals, including cyanide, OOT, semi-volatile compounds and others are found at Pig's Eye Oump at levels above what is considered safe for surface water. • Physical hazards, including wastes with broken glass, sharp edges, rusty nails, spikes or wire, can pose a risk to people and animals who wander onto the site. The proposed clean-up plan has components that deal with each of these types of risk.
0.5 MILE
Asphalt Plant
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Residential
3. Decreased land value The land value will drop 56% because of a industrial park as a survey goes. 4. The site is hard to be restored and reached
Design Targets 1. Reclaiming Contaminated Area 2. Creating a Multi-functional Park 3. Saving Money
Buliding Reprogramming Grain Elevator
Steel Plant
Grain Elevator Plant
Oil Tanks
Asphalt Plant
Cement Plant
Barge
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Project Scope
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Study Models Study models are used to approach final design ideas. There are 1 entire site model working on path system, water system and landform system. Some of the superstructures on site will be removed according to the path system. Based on the model, earth work was designed to dredge the channel and build the landform. This site model indicated the relationship between each manufactory sites and how to connect them as a whole park rather than individual ones. And the habitat walkways were carefully considered to provide totally natural walking experience.
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2
3
Detail models are created to show detail site designs. The Redrock Grain Elevator site has a flooding wall which has a good opportunity to have a view above the water. And the barges in front of the wall have potentials to be individual barge parks. Additionally, the superstructures on water can be made as viewing stages or sculptures. The huge factory building can be reprogrammed as boundaries. The Barton Enterprises has 11 tanks of different sizes, 60' 90' and 120' diameters and 50' high. And there are several man-made on site. The tanks will be cut from the bottom and reprogrammed as ponds park area. So the whole tanks area will be a space for people to experience the landform changing, a mounds and ponds park. The floodplain forest is origionally a public open space. The design idea is to keep the nature as it is and add some board walks through.
1. Peavy Redrock Elevator Detail Model
3. Floodplain Forest Detail Model
2. Tanks Detail Model 17
Detail Models
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The barge is designed to be a palce where people can touch the water and have other activities such as diving, dining and so on. The structures on water can give a great open view of the Mississippi channel.
Detail Models
The tanks area will be designed as a mounds and ponds park. So the tanks are reprogrammed as spaces growing aquatic plant species, letting people get familiar with them and relax with in the cut tanks area. 19
Design Approach
Park Entrance
Schematic Programming Plan Natural Wetland and Forest
Memorial Park
Urban Plaza Area
Constructed Mound and Wetland Art Gallery Urban Sports Park Flood Plain Forest
The traffic entrace will be kept. The Redrock Passenger Line Station is purposed to be located next to the Ameristeel Plant so that the buildings can be used as stations. Besides, another bike entrance will be created as well.
There are 6 main functioning areas which we will talke about later.
Dig and Fill
Superstructure Removing Plan
The soil digged out from constructed wetland is contaminated soil and will be piled around the cement building. While the soil from the neck of peninsula will be capping the constructed mound. So that the earth work will be balance.
The superstructures on site will be partially removed according to the arrangement of the path system.
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Design Approach
Path Traffic System
Path System
Road 1.89 Miles
Overall path system.
The traffic path is limited to 1.89 miles so that the cars will only reach the main roads. By this people can be freely walk on site without considering cars.
Biking System
Walking System
Bike Circulation 1.48 Miles
Bike Circulation 2.28 Miles
There are two bike path circles around the whole site. The inner one is about 1. 48 miles and the outter one is about 2.28 miles. Each of the path has its own advantage to view different sceneries.
Walking Circulation 1.6 Miles
Walking Circulation 2.6 Miles
Walking Circulation 3.5 Miles
Pedestrain will have more choices on the site. After they parking their car they can walk a 1.6, a 2.6 or a 3.5 miles path circle.
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Design Approach
Nature Vegetation
Prairie Stripes
Main canopies are arranged along the bulidings and paths.
To connect the peninsula as a whole site, four plant stripes including mesic prairie grass and forbs, dry prairie grass and forbs, turf grass and prairie grass and forbs. Colors will be varied of the stripes.
Main Axis
Visual Path
Red Rock Road
Axis is the most used design vocabulary. The Redrock Road is made wider to be the strongest axis on site and the rest of the pathways are basiclly parallel or vertical to it. The vertical axises give people more chance to experience the water. 22
Alongside the main axis, there is another visual axis from the constructed mound to the landmark, the Peavey Redrock Grain Elevator superstructure.
Design Narrative
The design idea is to connect the Mississippi River Green System and create a park outside the metro area of St Paul and Minneapolis downtown where people can go camping, picnic, jogging, walking and so on, and people can be educated as well. First of all, the water leve change from 684' to 697' every year and the 100 years flooding level is 713'. Almost all the buildings are above the 100 year flooding so the water level won't be a major concern in the design. The uniqueness of the site is that there are many different ways to experience the water as we talked before: pig’s eye lake as big open water, north star lake as inner water, channel as narrow water and Mississippi as wide river. So making full use of these advantages and bring people to the water is the key of the design. Because of the purposed Redrock Passenger Line, there will be a station close by and the site will be very reachable in the next few years. The Ameristeel Plant will be transformed into a train station for the lightrail, and the rest of the buildings near by will be growing remediation plant species, which will be used on the whole site to remediate the contaminated soil as well as educate people about ecological restoration. To the west of the Large Ameristeel Plants, the site is heavily polluted and intended to be a constructed wetland, so that the contaminated soil will be removed from the North Star Lake, and the ecological condition will be improved a lot. To the north of the Ameristeel Plant is a very big wild floodplain forest. This site will be kept as natural as possible to give people experience going wild. And there will also be opportunities for people to touch the water for the boardwalk stage and the shoreline. The neck of the west peninsular is digged through in the design to connect Pig's Eye Lake and The North Star Lake to make the later one no longer a back water lake. So the water level can be guaranteed for the Nor Star Lake. The south peninsular is the major site which is most populated, including an art gallary, a sport park and two designed islands. Detailed design will be discussed in the next few pages.
0
200'
400'
800'
N
Masterplan
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Gym Game Viewing Building Soccer Field Constructed Mounds Rip-rap Bank
Tanks Park
Biking Mounds
Urban Art Gallery Dry Prairie Grass Stripe
Existing Mound
Parking Lot 2 Constructed Mound
Flooding Plain Forest Island Constructed Wetland
Tunnel Water Conflunce Flower Bed
24 Barge Park Memorial Plaza Memorial Park Bridge Fishing Pier Turf grass Stripe
Viewing Stage
Traffic Entrance
Parking Lot 1
Green House
Redrock Passenger Line Station
Parking Lot 3
Flooding Wetland
Stage on Water Mesic Grass Stripe Prairie Grass Stripe
Trailer Parking Lot
Water Sculpture
Tunnel Canopy Avenue
Wild Floodplain Forest
Masterplan Diagramming
Front Plaza
Fountain
Black Marble Pool
Gravel Pool
Plant Bed
Pergola
Detail design of the fountain
The front plaza is designed to be a urban plaza for people's gathering, visiting, entertaining and so on. The rebars are used as pergolas combineing with climbing roses. The flowers will blossom in spring, summer and fall time of the year. A rectangular pool is embeded in front of the large steel buildings and the pool is made of a stripe of black marbles and two stripes of gravels on both sides. The pool can contain very shallow water which is barely above the bottom of a shoe. And fountain is also applied in an order in the pool. So people can experience the water both peaceful and powerful water effect. 25
The rebar will also be used as porches at the back yard of the buildings. There will also be outdoor cafe place for people's chatting and gathering. The steel building's wall will be cut in an order of every 10' vertically and every cutting piece will be rotated 30 degree clockwise from the top view to let more sunshine come into the buildings for remediation plants' growing. And the same method will be applied to the roofs of the buildings. At the outdoor cafe area, the lower part of the wall will be cut horizontally and elevated as a shelter extending to outside grass lawn. Crabapple trees, ginkgos and poplar trees are the main canopy species for the back yard. Light features are combined together with the pergolas and some different stripes are elevated as stone benches or lowered as planting bed, or just another kind of pavement. During winter time, the pool will be used as a skating ground (34’ * 280’ pool).
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Constructed Mound and Wetland Area
On the constructed mound, retaining walls will be used as both walls and seats on site depending on how it meets the mound. These walls are used as places where people can have a view directly to the landmark, the Peavey Redrock Grain Elevator superstructure, over the North Star Lake. This made the axis of the whole design more powerful. Since the mounds was origionally a contaminated mound, capping method will be applied here. Remediation grass growing from the steel plant green house can be used here to reclaim the polluted soil. 27
In the constructed wetland area, an amphitheater is made close to water. The stairs will be flooded as water level change. The bank side will be planted with wetland grass. This is the place where people can experience the North Star Lake safely.
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Flood Plain Forest
Main idea about the flood plain forest area is boardwalk. The two boardwalks are at different levels . One is just above the water and the other one will give people a much higher view of the Mississippi River. The rebars will be used as hand railings and fences to keep safe. The island area will be kept as natural and origional as possible.
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The flooding plain forest area will be flooded seasonally. So the experience how people touch the water will be various. Besides, the island is the conflunce of the Pig's Eye Lake channel and the MississippI River. So both people on ships and visitors on the island can see each other as a good scenery.
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Urban Sports Park
To the west side of the sports park there is a boardwalk along the Pigs' Eye Lake channel connecting the whole peninsular. And people on the boardwalk have a lot of chances to watch the heron rookery on the other side of the channel. Willow trees are planted alongside the boardwalk and people can walk their dogs, jog or take a rest on the chairs under the trees. The topo changes gradually on the river side into the water. So there are plenty of opportunities to come close to water. Because that there won't be safety problem to the channel side, there will be some light features as reference of safety at night. 31
First Floor
Second Floor
Roof Floor
Around the cement building, a landform will be created. This image shows how the mound meets the building and the stairs. In front of the building and the mound there is a soccer field for sports games considering that there is a tradition of soccer sport in Minnesota. The building will be used as game-viewing stages. The mound is planted with prairie grass. First floor of the building is a 20’ wide wood stage connecting both inside and outside. The second floor is a 10’ stage and on the roof there is another stage. All of these stages will have a good view of the game played on site. 32
At the east side of the park, retaining wall to meet the elevation. People can sit on the long side of the landform to view the north star lake. 33
Mounds and Ponds Park
Mounds and ponds park is made of oil tanks and existing mounds. The biggest oil tank of 120’ diameter is removed and left the base to create a pond growing water flowers such as water lily and iris. People can go down to touch the water or walk around and seat. 34
In the tank people can have a view to the sky.
The grove in between the tanks is used as a recreation and outdoor sports plaza. Other side of the pathway are the mounds planted with prairie grass and forbs. 35
Mounds and Ponds Park
The memorial park is aiming to remind people of old industrial experience. So the pavement is crashed concrete with grass planted in between. The building is cut in the way that people can interact more with it and the stripes of perennials will connect both inside and outside of building. 36
Water front stage is the most important space for people to have a view of water. The benches and tables will all be made of the same materials with the floor. They just look like the floor is elevated to be banches and tables.
The memorial plaza is also paved by crashed concrete and will give people a 30 degree elevation angle to see the grain elevator from the walk way. As we are getting closer to it, we will have a better impression of its huge scale.
The barge is reprogrammed as a barge park. It connects the viewing stage using a wood path with a roller. So the path will not be discontinued when water level changes. The barge park is planted with sensitive shallow rooted vegetations on top and used as a diving space inside. 37
Pavement Design
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Gravel
Light Granite
Asphalt
Rip-rap
Stone
Wood
Crashed Concrete
Dark Marble
Concrete Brick
Plant Design Canopy
Honey Locust
River Birch
Swamp White Oak
Red Oak
White Ash
Sugar Maple
Bur Oak
Crab Apple
Northern Pin Oak
Red Maple
Shrub
American Hazelnut
Grey Dogwood
Leadplant
Poison lvy
Red Osier Dongwood
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Mesic Prairie
Canada Anemone
Canada Wildrye
New England Aster
Prairie Blazing Star
Prairie Dropseed
Prairie Sage
Prairie Wild Onion
Purple Prairie Clover
Switchgrass
Penn Sedge
Blue Joint Grass
Pale Purple Coneflower
Sky Blue Aster
Maximillian's Sunflower
Indian Grass
Side Oats Gramma
Plains Oval Sedge
Little Bluestem
Prairie Smoke
Showy Tick-trefoil
Dry Prairie
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Wet Meadow
Bebb's Sedge
Fringed Brome
Joe Pye-weed
Giant Bur-reed
Sneezeweed
Green Bulrush
Horsetail
Prairie Cord Grass
Woolgrass
Serrated Sunflower
Marsh Milkweed
Sweet Flag
Tussock Sedge
Turf Grass
Kentucky Bluegrass
Phasing Based on my assumption, the industrial park will be closed someday in the future. After the factories are closed, the Ameristeel Plant will be firstly transformed into a park because it is relatively seperated from the peninsula and most important, the Redrock Passenger Line will make this area very polulated. Then in next 15 years, the Memorial Park will be built. At last, maybe 50 years later, the most complicated area, the peninsular will be transformed and the whole post industrial water front park will finally be created. 41
Bibliography Principles of Brownfield Regeneration: Cleanup, Design, and Reuse of Derelict Land by Justin Hollander, Niall Kirkwood and Julia Gold (Sept. 2, 2010) Drosscape: Wasting Land in Urban America by Alan Berger (May 3, 2007) Cities for People: Jan Gehl and Lord Richard Rogers (Sept. 6, 2010) Yu, Kongjian. Position Landscape Architecture-The art of Survival. The Keynote Speech at the 2006 ASLA Annual Meeting and 43rd IFLA World Congress, Minneapolis. Yu, Kongjian. Urban Landscape as Ecosystem-2010 Shanghai Expo Houtan Park. Architecture Journal, 2010.7, 31-3s Gehl, Jan. Life between Buildings-Using public space. Koekebakker, Olof. Westergasfabriek Culture Park transformation of a former industrial site in Amsterdam.
Resources http://www.asla.org/2010awards/006.htmI www.pca.state.mn.us www.dnr.state.mn.us
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