The guiding principles of the VDBA Visitor Center include the establishment of RAIN GARDENS and a system for PARKING LOT STORMWATER MANAGEMENT (from downspouts and parking lot to biofilter wetland).
- Internal roadway and parking area runoff is pretreated in infiltration sunken islands (1), which also have surface water overflow routing in below-grade pipes.
- These pipes and roof/drain system downspouts to run direct water to the sunken wetland swales (2) for storage, energy containment and water quality enhancement.
- Overflow from these swales is directed to the stormwater polishing wetlands (4), before being released to receiving waterbodies offsite to the south and onsite (5) to the wetland enhancement area.
- An intermittent drainage swale is restored with a planted prairie buffer (6). This drainageway directs runoff to the shallow wetland biofilter (2) and to the south to the stormwater polishing wetland restoration (4).
- A county highway buffer planting of salt-tolerant native prairie vegetation (3) is used to capture and filter runoff from the road surface prior to entering the property, the highway ditch system and before it enters downstream receiving waterbodies to the north and south.
Sketch of site grading study has been conceptually considered to confirm the site layout within development area is possible and considers the following:
- Concept grades for building provided with architecture
- ADA compliance at this time is not a priority for trails, though maximum 5% slope will be adhered to wherever possible
- Parking area to have 6” curbs except at overflow/event parking and potential stormwater drainage flow areas
- See Stormwater Management Concept for drainage patterns
- Existing topographic information needs to be confirmed for building location and any of the development location zones.
Master plan design includes integration of stormwater concept with formal greenspace and the building façade. It appears at this master planning level that all elements can work well together, this would be refined during final design stage and edits would be driven in part by final sizing for stormwater management needs to obtain local and state permits for stormwater management.