The stormwater system at Dunwoody Nature Center has gotten a major facelift, courtesy of a $700,000 revamp designed to arrest soil erosion and environmentally handle runoff. The new system, composed of a series of plunge pools, was inaugurated by city officials and Nature Center leaders earlier this week, a move deemed protecting the educational Crean Eco Classroom in its verdant locale.
Dunwoody Nature Center's Executive Director, Nancy Longacre, proclaimed the previously shaky ground around the Eco Classroom, which is crucial to the Center's programming, is now secure. The sidewalk, previously at risk "due to stormwater drainage issues," is set to firmly stay, thanks to the city-funded initiative. "We're grateful to the City of Dunwoody for developing and implementing a plan to fix the problem and improve the environment," Longacre said in a statement, implicitly acknowledging the potential danger that was posed to the classroom infrastructure.
Ahead of this initiative, stormwater from a neighboring subdivision and forestland would converge around the educational site, eroding the soil at an alarming rate. The City’s Stormwater Utility teamed with Dewberry Engineers in an attempt to solve this persistent problem, conceiving a green infrastructure that could slow and safely redirect water flow. According to Michael Smith, the Public Works Director for Dunwoody, the engineering marvel is not just a functional necessity but an echo of the natural processes it aims to emulate.
The completed stormwater management project, revealed in a statement by the City of Dunwoody, details how river rocks and granite walls were laid to match the existing detention basin, creating a harmonious visual while performing the critical role of water filtration. To truly make the plunge pool system a green one, the engineers have gone to integrate plant life akin to the surrounding ecology, allowing the functional to maintain a conversation with the aesthetic.
Nestled in this green embrace is the Crean Eco Classroom itself, a testament to sustainability and creative reuse, having been assembled from repurposed shipping containers and crowned with a flourishing green roof. This sanctuary for learning attracts a bevy of pollinators with its native flora, from the flittering butterfly to the busy bee, all while now standing on firmer, drier ground. As bees play amongst blooms above, below, students are to cross newly installed decks and sidewalks, safe in the knowledge that, thanks to improved drainage, the earth beneath them will remain intact.
