The Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary
reclaiming a brownfield site for nature and history
The Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary reclaims a brownfield along the Mississippi River near downtown St. Paul. Rich in history, this site was a Native American trading village and location of the sacred cave “Wakan-tipi”. Upon European settlement the site became a brewery district and then evolved into a railroad maintenance yard used extensively in the early twentieth century. After the railroad’s decline, the site was abandoned, neglected, and became a dumping ground for the surrounding communities.
Abandoned, polluted, and dangerous the community undertook the challenge of reclaiming this area as a public and recreational amenity. The major design challenge for the site was to integrate ecological restoration and park design with the implementation of the Response Action Plan (remediation).
Main components of the ecological restoration plan included:
- the extensive removal of contaminated soils
- detailed grading plans closely coordinated with design and restoration requirements
- a unique groundwater-fed stream, via cave discharge, created with native stone and on-site materials
- the creation of 3 wetlands totaling 2.5 acres
- the restoration of a rare black ash and tamarack seepage swamp
- the stabilization of an eroding bluff
- the restoration of a 4 acre bedrock bluff prairie
- design of local and regional trails, sensitively bringing users to the unique cultural and ecological character of the site
EOR performed a hydraulic analysis on the site’s surface and groundwater contributions, transforming a potential problem into an amenity. The existing groundwater seeps that flowed from the bluff and historic caves (including the Wakan-tipi and brewery caves) were used to create a unique wetland community that supported unique Minnesotan plant species on-site. This wetland also serves to create a natural buffer and helps to protect the sacred cave from once problem vandals and graffiti.
This project has been both locally and nationally recognized, having won numerous awards and been published in various national publications.