Stormwater Improvements Complement Springfield Art Museum 30-Year Master Planning Efforts

The Fassnight Creek improvements will restore the stream to a naturalized channel to benefit water quality, creation of urban wildlife habitat while also lowering the Federal Emergency Management Agency Base Flood Elevation (1% Annual Exceedance Probability) by nearly 3 feet. The Springfield Art Museum would have been shown as being within the flood plain with the pending map updates and this project will provide flood risk resiliency improvements and remove the building from the floodplain. The community also values the historic nature of the site and the downstream park.  The design will salvage many of the historic elements to provide a seamless connection to the downstream park. 

We discovered multiple errors in the FEMA modeling that included incorrect culvert sizes and drainage areas. This meant that to meet the design goals and meet the concept design layout that was previously prepared, the project would greatly exceed the City’s budget. Working collaboratively with the City, we discussed cost saving ideas to eliminate several retaining walls, remove a culvert crossing and to avoid shoring the Art Museum foundation and implemented these changes into the design. This resulted in a shift of the channel, a new roadway layout, additional sanitary sewer impacts and a revision to nearly 80 sheets. We brought on additional team members and started having weekly progress meetings with the City to keep the project on schedule.  

Halfway through the final design however, COVID-19 stay-at-home orders were issued. Our staff in multiple offices shifted to an at-home production schedule. The design drawings, specifications and meeting notes were moved to an online platform to help City staff that were also under an at-home order. The weekly face-to-face meetings were moved to virtual meetings so that multiple City departments could collaborate in real time to meet the challenging schedule. The final bid documents were delivered on-schedule thanks to dedication of the entire production team and the attentiveness of City staff.