To enhance stormwater control and mitigate pollution into the Red Cedar River and nearby neighborhoods in East Lansing, MI, the Ingham County Drain Commissioner transformed Ranney Park into a multi-use community park and green infrastructure site. Ranney Park is part of a larger network of sustainable stormwater improvements led by GEI Consultants for the 270-acre Montgomery Drain watershed. Wade Trim provided conceptual and electrical design, structural engineering, and landscape architecture services for the park’s transformation.

The 11-acre Ranney Park design features a complex series of detention basins, channels, waterfalls, and wetlands. The centerpiece of the project is a water quality wall, in which collected stormwater erupts out of a custom 160-foot-long wall and continues to circulate and run downhill through open pools, brooks, and rocky cascades before exiting the park to a large stormwater pond across Michigan Avenue. All park features were designed to be both visually stunning and integral to controlling and treating stormwater before it discharges to the Red Cedar River. In addition, the project provided wildlife habitat restoration improvements via woody debris structures, rock basking and nesting areas, hibernacula, and native plantings. Pedestrians can enjoy amenities such as trails, boardwalks connecting islands, overlooks, and a sledding hill.

Initial water quality testing has shown pollution levels leaving the watershed have decreased 90%. The design also incorporates a plaza, large floral clock, and other site amenities, which are planned for implementation in the future.