Revitalizing play spaces and stormwater systems

MWRD’s Suburban Green Schoolyard Pilot Program

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) selected Greenprint to lead a green schoolyard pilot program in Chicago's suburbs. The program aims to transform school playgrounds into sustainable spaces that benefit the school, surrounding neighborhoods and the environment. Greenprint is tasked with overall design engineering and construction management as well as conceptualizing a long-term program, finding grant funding to complement MWRD funding and local resources, and ensuring the designs reflect the needs and vision of each school community. 

We are working with four properties — Morton East High School, Burnham Elementary School, Otis P. Graves Elementary and Heritage Middle Schools, and East Leyden High School — to design green schoolyards that improve stormwater management and meet the specific needs of each school's community.

To ensure the designs reflect community priorities, our team met with various groups at each school, including administrators, staff, PTO members and students. During these meetings, participants raised a variety of concerns about the current condition of their schools and schoolyards. Common issues included flooding that disrupts athletic and play areas, the increased workload for maintenance staff due to flooding, health risks from mold and mildew caused by excess moisture, and a lack of shaded areas in outdoor gathering and play spaces.

Our team is currently designing plans for each of the four schools that go beyond stormwater management, delivering added benefits that address the issues of the people who use these spaces. Proposed upgrades include green infrastructure like bioretention basins and underground storage systems to manage runoff, as well as trees and vegetation to improve air quality and cool playground surfaces. Additional enhancements include turf athletic fields that remain usable after storms, new playground equipment, permeable rubber playground surfaces, and shaded seating areas with trees for sun protection.