For their capstone project in Civil and Environmental Engineering, a team of students created designs for an underutilized greenspace in Manchester adjacent to the Maquoketa River.

The Maquoketa River flows through the heart of Manchester. The City has been focusing on improving this space and added a whitewater park and has enhanced the area with a walkway and improvements to Shelly Park. As the City continues to enhance the trail network, an local initiative and its volunteer members, the Manchester Vitality Endowment team, are focused on two high visibility areas.  

The first is a large parcel of land that is unimproved and is mostly unused except for the Farmers Market, storing snow removed from the city streets/parking lots and a staging area for an annual motocross competition.  They want to reimagine this highly visible ‘eye-sore’ space into something exciting, vibrant and attractive to visitors and residents. To resolve the Farmer's Market parking issues, improve the aesthetics of the site, and increase the utilization of the space, the student team designed a site plan that features a semipermeable parking lot to host the Farmer's Market, a green space, three recreation areas, prairie, and a trail system to connect these features.

The 2^nd area is a smaller, underdeveloped park that sits across the river from Shelly Park and is not used, but offers an incredible view of the City. The ultimate goal for this area is multi-dimensional.  The student team developed a site plan to reduce maintenance requirements of the site, provide safe passing to the lower flat area for relaxation, provide seating, and enhance the aesthetics of the site. This plan includes the removal of unwanted vegetation, the installation of new benches, and a staircase.