Low Impact Development Manual for Michigan - OSEH - University ...

Case Study: Saugatuck Center for the Arts
The Saugatuck Center for the Arts (SCA), in conjunction with the City of
Saugatuck, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and private
donors, constructed a public garden that treats rain water that falls on the
SCA roof. The original design was modified to accommodate rain water that
would otherwise have entered Kalamazoo Lake untreated. The resulting
design for the garden absorbs and infiltrates 100 percent of the rain water
from the SCA roof, resulting in zero discharge to the nearby lake.
Subsurface Infiltration
Source: JFNew
In addition to the garden at the Saugatuck Center for the Arts, the revised
design incorporated a series of alternative stormwater Best Management
Practices on City of Saugatuck property, including subsurface infiltration
under porous pavers in the adjacent city parking lot and a rain garden/vegetated
swale series at Coghlin Park to treat rain water from the city parking
lot. The design incorporated native plants to address management in an
urban setting while visually integrating with the contemporary social fabric
of Saugatuck. The design also incorporated an innovative oil-and-grit separator
to remove over 80 percent of sediment and nutrients draining from
approximately nine acres of urban land surrounding the SCA and city parking
lot. Through this series, or “treatment techniques,” the SCA and City
of Saugatuck are able to demonstrate a variety of innovative and unique
alternatives for treatment and reduction of stormwater.
Project Type
Estimated Total
Project Cost
Maintenance
Responsibility
Case Study Site Considerations
Subsurface infiltration, rain gardens, porous pavers, native
plants, water quality device
$200,000
City of Saugatuck
Project Contact Kirk Harrier, City Manager, 269-857-2603
LID Manual for Michigan – Chapter 7 Page 196