Combining Business With Nature: The Western Michigan University Business Technology and Research Park

by Chuck Otto, environmental writer

Western Michigan University (WMU) took a different approach to landscaping the Business Technology and Research Park in Kalamazoo, Mich. Instead of the monotonously familiar look of most business parks, WMU came up with a plan to restore and preserve the property?EUR??,,????'???s natural character by focusing on environmentally sustainable design techniques. Photos Courtesy of Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber, Inc.

Western Michigan University (WMU) in Kalamazoo decided to try something different. When it came time to construct a new business park campus on historically significant farmland it owned, the university opted out of the cookie-cutter approach. Instead, WMU devised a plan to restore and preserve much of the property?EUR??,,????'???s natural character by focusing on environmentally sustainable design techniques to anchor its infrastructure.

Now three-years-old, the 260-acre Western Michigan University Business and Technology Research Park (or BTR Park) has become a familiar stop for business people and birders alike ?EUR??,,????'??? good news for civic leaders, environmentalists, and other stakeholders who had expressed concern about the fate of this prime parcel.

A Brief Look Back

Enoch and Deborah Harris, Kalamazoo County?EUR??,,????'???s first African-American settlers, homesteaded this tract in 1830. The Harris family also is credited with planting the county?EUR??,,????'???s first apple orchard, and legend has it the farm was a stop on the Underground Railroad for slaves fleeing the South. More recently the property was known as the Lee Baker Farm, honoring the WMU agriculture department chairman who once resided there.

In light of its historical importance, it?EUR??,,????'???s no surprise that nearby residents made the Baker Farm a focus of preservation efforts as much of the surrounding area was lost to development. Over the years the university had in fact considered a number of uses for the property, including its potential as a golf course or minor league baseball field.

Civic and business leaders first approached the school in the 1980s and proposed a business/industrial development for the site, and in 1993 the university unveiled a concept for a standard business park. It was not warmly received: Residents of the nearby Parkview Hills community rejected the plan, raising concerns about traffic congestion and the related development of the adjacent Asylum Lake green space. They soon recruited other neighborhoods to join the opposition. WMU withdrew the concept, and the Baker Farm instead continued producing corn and soybeans.

Several years passed until, in 1998, WMU needed homes for its new College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, as well as its College of Aviation. The university invited the cities of Kalamazoo and Battle Creek to submit site proposals. The College of Aviation ultimately went to Battle Creek, but with the new engineering school still up for grabs, the Baker Farm suddenly returned to the spotlight.

 

A central parkway, bridges and walkways were built around a sustainability designed storm water management system that is best observed ?EUR??,,????'??? and most appreciated ?EUR??,,????'??? up close and on foot.

Rethinking the Business Park Concept

From the start it was clear that much was at stake for Kalamazoo. Having suffered the recent losses of Upjohn Pharmaceuticals, a General Motors plant, and other large employers, it was imperative that the city not lose the new WMU engineering campus to another municipality. The Baker Farm?EUR??,,????'???s location close to key area highways, the pressing need for local economic development, and a heightened level of environmental sensitivity all contributed to a shared sense of purpose. ?EUR??,,????'??Kalamazoo came forward with a realistic, achievable proposal and assistance in developing the Baker property,?EUR??,,????'?? says WMU Director of Campus Planning Evie Asken, FAIA. ?EUR??,,????'??Placing the engineering college on a site close to our main campus was a plus.?EUR??,,????'?? As the project moved forward Asken witnessed the university, the city, and the Baker Farm?EUR??,,????'???s neighboring communities unite in a commitment to create ?EUR??,,????'??a higher-quality space?EUR??,,????'?? that would far exceed the standard-model business park.

An aerial view of the Western Michigan University Business Technology and Research Park in the early stages of development. In the upper left corner are infield infiltration basins planted with deep-rooted prairie plants that help recharge the groundwater. An ornamental pond that flows under the building and over a waterfall to add oxygen to the water is visible in the center of the photo. To the right is a wetland-fringed pond that enhances pollutant settlement and provides waterfowl habitat.

WMU brought in Kalamazoo Landscape Architects O?EUR??,,????'???Boyle Cowell Blalock & Associates (OCBA) as lead consultant and master planner for the BTR Park. OCBA had taken part in the Baker Farm?EUR??,,????'???s first development effort in the early 1990s and knew the property as well as the various stakeholder groups. The firm hosted several public meetings to present its initial concepts, and met with the nearby homeowners associations to understand their issues.

?EUR??,,????'??The new proposal eliminated the development of the Asylum Lake parcel,?EUR??,,????'?? explains OCBA Vice President and Principal Ken Peregon. ?EUR??,,????'??So that took away the concerns of many in the community who wanted it preserved as green space.?EUR??,,????'??

Landscaping for the Business Technology and Research Park?EUR??,,????'???s anchor tenant, the Western Michigan University College of Engineering, includes a waterway that is part of the development?EUR??,,????'???s re-circulating stormwater management system. Fields of low-maintenance, native grasses were planted around parking areas to act as a filtering system for roadway runoff and protect against erosion and flood risk

Stormwater Runoff an Issue

Going forward, the Parkview Hills residents expressed specific concerns regarding potential stormwater runoff from the BTR Park into their subdivision. OCBA had planned to handle the storm water issue in a unique fashion but, Peregon admits, working with the nearby residents ?EUR??,,????'??helped keep our attention on it.?EUR??,,????'??

The city of Kalamazoo subsequently formed an ad hoc storm water advisory committee, composed of technical experts and environmental advocates, to participate in the planning and approval process.

Meanwhile, OCBA brought in the Michigan architecture and engineering firm of Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber (FTCH) to assist in project planning and execution. Together, the two companies formulated a strategy to design the BTR Park?EUR??,,????'???s infrastructure using sustainable concepts to manage stormwater runoff. ?EUR??,,????'??Setting a goal to consistently reduce or even eliminate stormwater discharge on a project of this magnitude obviously presented its own challenges,?EUR??,,????'?? says FTC&H Senior Associate, Anthony Mourand.

?EUR??,,????'??At the time I?EUR??,,????'???m sure many people with a vested interest in the property doubted it was possible. But we made it work.?EUR??,,????'??

The strategy soon began to take shape. OCBA designed and FTC&H engineered the BTR Park?EUR??,,????'???s infrastructure, including a central parkway, bridges and walkways, as well as an elaborate stormwater management system of ponds, streams, and infiltration basins. The team designed and built the storm sewer system with the goals of sharply reducing flood and erosion risk, protecting stream morphology, maintaining water temperatures, and improving overall water quality.

These objectives were supported and enhanced by planting fields of native, low-maintenance grasses around tenant parking lots, buildings, and lawns. The grasses act as a filtering system for roadway runoff as it migrates from paved areas through vegetated slopes and swales and into a series of detention and infiltration basins. The basins provide the controlled release of rain and snowmelt as it?EUR??,,????'???s carried to the BTR Park?EUR??,,????'???s central drainage system. As with the parking lots and tenant walkways, the park?EUR??,,????'???s roadways are also designed to drain into vegetated slopes.

?EUR??,,????'??Most people assume water should just flow into a pipe and go somewhere else,?EUR??,,????'?? Asken says. Indeed, the idea of managing stormwater in a sustainable manner probably raised a few eyebrows initially. The more conventional method would have involved installing a considerable amount of costly piping to transport stormwater off site. Instead, the project team used an 18-inch pipe outlet that to date has resulted in zero off-site stormwater discharge.

The Western Michigan Business Technology and Research Park makes effective use of native flora both to manage stormwater and to restore much of the feel of the original environment. The development?EUR??,,????'???s ponds, meadows, and woods are drawing increasing numbers of birds and other wildlife. Coreopsis, purple aster, coneflower, and both big blue stem and little blue stem are thriving, while the wetlands abound with rushes, sedges, and duck potato. A mix of maples, beech, hickory and oaks along with redosier dogwood, winterberry, several viburnum species, and other native shrubs are featured in landscape areas.

Being a Good Neighbor

The stormwater issue aside, the Parkview Hills group also insisted they did not want to see, hear, or smell the BTR Park.

In response, building and parking structure heights were set low. Additionally, the new WMU College of Engineering, which features gardens, a waterfall and stream, was placed on the site to serve as an attractive transitional area between the subdivision and the rest of the business park.

As a further concession, the project team created a series of rolling, irregular berms to further obscure noise and views. OCBA?EUR??,,????'???s Peregon acknowledges the original site plan had not called for such a strong visual separation between the BTR Park and its neighbors, ?EUR??,,????'??so we designed the berms to appear naturally occurring, and we used more native plants to help them blend into the surrounding landscape.?EUR??,,????'?? By the time the park infrastructure was finished, the team had established perimeter buffer zones ranging from 300 to 600 feet, in turn creating more than 70 acres of passive and recreational landscape.

Other preservation and restoration activities have included planting regional flora throughout the park, preserving a fencerow of 100-year-old oak trees, and otherwise nurturing native prairie meadows and wetlands. To further enhance the park?EUR??,,????'???s green character, each tenant building?EUR??,,????'???s developmental footprint is limited to 60 percent of its overall site, a mandate that exceeds local standards by 10 percent.

Day?EUR??,,????'???s end: The Western Michigan University Business Technology and Research Park reveals another side of its personality on an early autumn evening. Naturally occurring wetlands exist on the site, but the constructed wetlands and ponds (shown here) control the storm water runoff and prevent it from entering a downstream creek that is part of a near-by subdivision.

The Business & Technology Research Park Today

Since opening in 2002, the BTR Park has established itself as a vital link between the academic and business communities. Today it is home to the Southwest Michigan Innovation Center, a state-of-the-art business incubator, as well as WMU?EUR??,,????'???s Biosciences Research and Commercialization Center, which provides its expertise and research support to emerging life sciences ventures.

To date the BTR Park has attracted 24 private-sector businesses including 16 life-science companies, seven advanced engineering firms, and one information technology company. Among these businesses two have constructed their own research and development facilities, seven are housed in two multi-tenant structures, and 15 have laboratory and office space in the Innovation Center.

Additionally, the park has been designated one of the state?EUR??,,????'???s 11 Smart Zones by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. The distinction makes it possible for tenants to receive tax breaks and also gives them access to loans, grants, and marketing assistance.

Throughout this period of growth and development, the park?EUR??,,????'???s infrastructure has capably handled frequent storm events, resulting in zero storm water discharge. ?EUR??,,????'??We?EUR??,,????'???re now trying to incorporate these sustainable concepts into similar projects whenever we can,?EUR??,,????'?? FTC&H?EUR??,,????'???s Mourand notes. ?EUR??,,????'??We?EUR??,,????'???ve learned that it isn?EUR??,,????'???t necessarily more expensive to manage stormwater sustainability rather than in the traditional way.?EUR??,,????'??

?EUR??,,????'??Our mission and goal was to focus on making the BTR Park work for everyone involved,?EUR??,,????'?? says WMU?EUR??,,????'???s Asken. ?EUR??,,????'??And on that level it has succeeded beyond our expectations.?EUR??,,????'??