Chicago Public Schools Space to Grow - A Multi-Agency Program to Provide Places to Play and Improve Stormwater Management

The Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Department of Water Management (DWM), the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRDGC), Openlands Project, and the Healthy Schools Campaign have partnered to bring much needed improvements to Chicago's elementary school sites, many within underserved neighborhoods. The goal of the project was to combine both the resources and goals of the sponsoring organizations to provide needed landscape and play space to dilapidated asphalt covered school yards while also greatly reducing stormwater runoff volumes and rates. The projects address neighborhood flooding issues, help to reduce combined sewer overflows, and reduce the load to MWRDGC's water reclamation facilities. In 2014, Environmental Consulting & Technology (ECT) was selected to design and engineer the improvements for two of the first four school sites and has continued providing design services through 2020. The projects integrate green infrastructure throughout the improvements to address runoff from the project areas as well as the entire school sites. Improvements have included pervious asphalt basketball courts, pervious rubber and artificial turf play surfaces, permeable paving parking, bioretention landscapes, and raised planters to grow edibles. Prior to beginning the design process, DWM conducted an analysis to identify areas of the City in need of runoff reduction. This analysis was overlaid on the Chicago Public School's (CPS) needs for playground upgrades. To address DWM's need to reduce runoff, the projects were designed to meet the standards of MWRDGC's stormwater ordinance for greenfield development. The integrated systems, native landscapes, and raised planters for edibles provide a broad range of learning experiences for young elementary school minds. The project has won a number of awards and recognitions including: US Green Building Council's 2016 Best of Green Schools Illinois Association for Floodplain and Stormwater Management's 2015 Sustainability Project Award Featured on Green Schools National Network.