Kealing Park Water Quality Project

Project Description

The project will treat on-site parking lot and roof runoff associated with the George Washington Carver Museum, Cultural and Genealogy Center, Carver Library, Kealing Neighborhood Park, and Kealing Middle School. Most of the improvements are located in the park area and include retrofitting existing detention ponds, repairing an existing biofilter facility and adding a rain garden and other innovative control measures.

The project aims to be an innovative showpiece for green infrastructure that provides educational and recreational benefits to visitors of the Carver Museum and Library, neighborhood residents, and students of Kealing Middle School. 

Project Background

Kealing Park, located within the watershed of the Poquito Tributary of Boggy Creek, was identified in a review of City facilities as having good potential for Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) improvements.  In addition to enhancing existing detention ponds on site to provide greater functionality and water quality benefit, opportunities were identified to address several small erosion and drainage issues. In addition, the proximity of Kealing Middle School and the Carver Museum presents additional opportunities to design facilities that support educational programming on engineering and ecological principles related to urban stormwater management.

Project Components

The main project components will be focused on Kealing Park but will provide water quality benefits for the whole area. The construction will likely occur in 2 phases: Phase 1 focusing on upgrading the existing facilities and installing a new rain garden and Phase 2 being the repair of the existing on-site water quality controls.

Phase 1

• Site A – Retrofit of existing detention pond at Kealing Park to include water quality measures. This pond when full will be a maximum of 2ft deep and will drain within 48 hours. We are also proposing some recreational amenities, including a limestone block climbing feature for children.

• Site B – Retrofit of existing detention pond that serves the Kealing Middle School to include water quality measures. When full, this pond will be a maximum of 2 ft deep and drain within 48 hours.

• Site C – This would be a new rain garden at the north-west corner of the site to treat Pennsylvania Ave. The new rain garden would have a 7.5 inch ponding depth and will also drain within 48 hours.

Phase 2

• Site D  – Repair erosion issues at the existing biofilter that treats the school on the south-east corner of the site.  

• Site E: Repair the inlet of the existing rain garden that treats the runoff coming from the tennis court.

Project Timeline

Our capital improvement process includes the following phases:

• Preliminary Engineering – when a solution is identified and costs are estimated.

• Design – when the details are worked out and construction plans drawn up.

• Bidding and Permitting – when a contractor is hired and all permits are acquired.

• Construction – when the project is built.

This project is currently in design with construction estimated to begin in 2026.

Public Meeting

A public meeting was held in April 2024.

• Watch the meeting in English
• Watch the meeting in Spanish

Contacts

Kshitiz Gyawali, Project Sponsor, 512-574-6566, email Kshitiz Gyawali