As part of their Senior Design Capstone course, Civil & Environmental Engineering students created designs for improvements to Manchester's Shelly Park, a highly used amenity adjacent to the whitewater rafting course on the Maquoketa River.   

Shelly Park Redevelopment had a couple design challenges. The City of Manchester's goal for the park redevelopment was to include pedestrian access and ADA compliant walkways from the parking lot behind the buildings downtown, to Franklin Street and the store frontages. Additionally, the existing retaining walls and the gazebo area began to show their age and were deteriorating. The park redevelopment needed to take into consideration the existing gazebo, shaded picnic areas, as well as the riverfront visibility. 

The engineering planning team began with the objectives given by the clients, which included the design of new retaining walls, an ADA accessible sidewalk, maintenance of needed shaded areas in the day and adequate lighting after dark. Also, the team incorporated an incremental reduction in flood threat that considered how people interact with the Maquoketa River from Shelly Park, particularly since the creation of the whitewater park.  In addition to making the park functional for all residents and visitors, the engineering team designed new concepts to reimagine the use of space, including an amphitheater and replacing the deteriorating gazebo with a modern new concrete lookout over the river.  Design renderings and cost estimates were included in the final report.