HomeMy WebLinkAboutArden Park AwardContact: Jennifer Bennerotte, Communications Director
Phone 952-833-9520 • jbennerotte@EdinaMN.gov • EdinaMN.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Minnehaha Creek, Arden Park Restoration Receives National Engineering Award
Edina, Minn., Dec. 1, 2022 – The restoration of Arden Park and the portion of Minnehaha Creek that runs through it was recently recognized with a national engineering award.
The 2022 Engineering Excellence Awards Gala Dinner and Awards Program, considered the greatest celebration of engineering excellence in the world, recently showcased 195 ACEC member
firm achievements from throughout the nation and internationally.
Work at Arden Park was part of a series of improvements along Minnehaha Creek to restore the creek from Minnetonka to Minneapolis in a way that connects people and communities to a vibrant,
healthy, beautiful natural resource. Minnehaha Creek had been listed on the State’s impaired waters list due to low dissolved oxygen, high chloride, and high E. coli bacteria which
has led to poor biological communities. Over the last century, the creek has been ditched, dammed, wetlands filled and urban runoff has increased. Layering natural resource benefits
with community, the Arden Park project was a collaboration between the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District and City of Edina. The following improvements were made as part of the project:
Improved water quality – the stormwater management features of this project keep 30 pounds of phosphorus and 18,000 pounds of sediment out of Minnehaha Creek every year
Restored stream health and habitat – removing the 54th Street dam and re-meandering Minnehaha Creek restored over 2,100 feet of streambank, added 230 feet of stream length and created
diverse aquatic and terrestrial habitat
Four new creek accesses allow paddling, tubing, fishing or wading
New park shelter and outdoor gathering space
Enhanced open space
Upgraded hockey rink
Expanded trail network and new boardwalk
More than 400 new trees planted
Invasive buckthorn and ash trees preventatively removed
Expanded pollinator habitat
A panel of 29 judges representing a wide spectrum of built environment disciplines selected 36 projects for top Engineering Excellence Awards: 20 Honor Awards, 16 Grand Awards and the
Grand Conceptor Award for the year’s most outstanding engineering achievement. The Minnehaha Creek, Arden Park project, submitted by Inter-Fluve on behalf of project partners Stantec,
Minneahaha Creek Watershed District, City of Edina, Rachel Contracting and Prairie Restorations, was presented a Recognition Award.
For more information on Arden Park, visit EdinaParks.com. For more information
on the City of Edina’s Engineering Department, contact City Engineer
Chad Millner, 952-826-0318 or cmillner@EdinaMN.gov.
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Minnehaha Creek, Arden Park Restoration Receives National Engineering Award
Edina, Minn., Dec. 1, 2022 – The restoration of Arden Park and the portion of Minnehaha Creek that runs through it was recently recognized with a national engineering award.
The 2022 Engineering Excellence Awards Gala Dinner and Awards Program, considered the greatest celebration of engineering excellence in the world, recently showcased 195 ACEC member
firm achievements from throughout the nation and internationally.
Work at Arden Park was part of a series of improvements along Minnehaha Creek to restore the creek from Minnetonka to Minneapolis in a way that connects people and communities to a vibrant,
healthy, beautiful natural resource. Minnehaha Creek had been listed on the State’s impaired waters list due to low dissolved oxygen, high chloride, and high E. coli bacteria which
has led to poor biological communities. Over the last century, the creek has been ditched, dammed, wetlands filled and urban runoff has increased. Layering natural resource benefits
with community, the Arden Park project was a collaboration between the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District and City of Edina. The following improvements were made as part of the project:
Improved water quality – the stormwater management features of this project keep 30 pounds of phosphorus and 18,000 pounds of sediment out of Minnehaha Creek every year
Restored stream health and habitat – removing the 54th Street dam and re-meandering Minnehaha Creek restored over 2,100 feet of streambank, added 230 feet of stream length and created
diverse aquatic and terrestrial habitat
Four new creek accesses allow paddling, tubing, fishing or wading
New park shelter and outdoor gathering space
Enhanced open space
Upgraded hockey rink
Expanded trail network and new boardwalk
More than 400 new trees planted
Invasive buckthorn and ash trees preventatively removed
Expanded pollinator habitat
A panel of 29 judges representing a wide spectrum of built environment disciplines selected 36 projects for top Engineering Excellence Awards: 20 Honor Awards, 16 Grand Awards and the
Grand Conceptor Award for the year’s most outstanding engineering achievement. The Minnehaha Creek, Arden Park project, submitted by Inter-Fluve on behalf of project partners Stantec,
Minneahaha Creek Watershed District, City of Edina, Rachel Contracting and Prairie Restorations, was presented a Recognition Award.
For more information on Arden Park, visit EdinaParks.com. For more information
on the City of Edina’s Engineering Department, contact City Engineer
Chad Millner, 952-826-0318 or cmillner@EdinaMN.gov.
-30-