Woodbury Showcases Hasenbank Park Stormwater Art Project
The City of Woodbury presented details about its Hasenbank Park stormwater treatment project, a collaboration with the watershed district that transformed unused city property into a functional water management facility with integrated public art installations.
The project, which began in 2021, treats stormwater that would otherwise flow to Powers Lake by pumping water from the storm sewer system and infiltrating it into the ground at Hasenbank Park. The watershed district operates the facility in partnership with the city's Public Works department.
Four public art installations serve as interpretive features to educate the community about the stormwater management process. The installations include two large sculptures by artist Aaron Dysart, a concrete stepping stone installation by Christopher E. Harrison, and a steel wall facade designed by the landscape architecture team at Barr Engineering.
According to the presentation, the art installations were designed to provide a creative interpretation of the project's mechanical processes rather than relying solely on traditional informational panels. The artwork helps tell the story of the active water pumping and treatment procedures occurring below ground.
The watershed district indicated plans to expand similar stormwater treatment projects in the future and invited residents throughout Washington County and the metro area to visit the unique park space.
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- The intersection of civil engineering and public art as an educational tool for environmental infrastructure.
- Inter-agency collaboration between watershed districts and municipalities in infrastructure development.
- Public response to the integration of mechanical stormwater management in recreational park spaces.
We felt it more important to work with creative people to get a different kind of view on the project and get a different interpretation of what this means.
The project here at Hasenbank Park is really one of the just coolest projects I've worked on in my entire career.
Source document
[0:06] Our project here at Hasenbank
[0:07] Park really goes back
to about 2021 or so.
[0:10] The watershed district,
working with the city
[0:13] really started to make an effort
to identify some larger
[0:16] regional scale
stormwater treatment projects.
[0:19] One of the really big projects
[0:20] that came out of a feasibility
study we did back at that time
[0:23] was the concept of doing work
here
[0:25] at Hasenbank Park.
[0:28] The watershed district
approached the city and said,
[0:30] you know,
I think we have an idea here.
[0:31] We can,
[0:32] you know, transform
[0:33] this unused piece of city
property into, you know,
[0:36] what we see here today,
which is a really robust
[0:38] stormwater treatment feature.
[0:39] We've had a lot of collaboration
[0:41] with city staff, city
Parks and Natural Resources
[0:43] Commission,
as well as city council
[0:45] to really put effort
[0:46] into the design of this project
to make it as functional
[0:49] and aesthetically pleasing
as we can.
[0:51] We'll be working with Public
Works to operate this facility
[0:54] as we pump stormwater
out of the storm sewer system
[0:57] that would otherwise
flow to powers Lake.
[0:59] We'll be infiltrating
that in the ground here
[1:00] within Hasenbank Park.
[1:03] We have
four different public art
[1:04] installations here at Hasenbank
[1:06] There are two large sculptures
by Aaron Dysart,
[1:09] one concrete kind of stepping
stone installation
[1:12] by Christopher E. Harrison,
and then a steel wall facade
[1:16] that was designed
by the landscape
[1:17] architecture team
at Barr Engineering.
[1:19] The art installations
that we have here
[1:21] were really born out of the idea
of using public art
[1:24] as an interpretive feature
as part of this project.
[1:27] You know,
[1:27] you build projects
and you've just put
[1:29] an interpretive panel up
with a whole lot of text,
[1:31] and that tells people
this is how it works.
[1:34] And while that's important
and we could do that,
[1:36] we felt it more important
to work with creative people
[1:39] to get a different
kind of view on the project
[1:42] and get a different
interpretation of what
[1:44] this means.
[1:45] While this is, you know, very
looks like a very natural space,
[1:48] those more mechanical features
that are represented
[1:51] in the artwork
[1:52] also kind of tell
some of the story
[1:53] that there's a lot of active
procedures going on here.
[1:56] There's we're pumping water
[1:58] actively from the Fish
Lake outlet
[2:00] and getting it
into the park here
[2:02] for infiltration and treatment.
[2:03] So it really just helps
[2:04] tell that story of
what's going on below ground.
[2:10] The project here at Hasenbank
[2:12] Park is really
one of the just coolest projects
[2:14] I've worked on in
my entire career.
[2:16] It's really just a wide
[2:17] array of activities
that are going on here.
[2:19] Some you see, some
you don't see.
[2:21] Stormwater management,
landscape restoration.
[2:24] Healthy soils, public
art, outreach and education.
[2:28] It really
all comes together here.
[2:29] And so that's why
I think this is a really unique
[2:31] project and unique park space
for the city of Woodbury.
[2:36] So a lot of the feedback we have
had has been very positive
[2:38] from just
running into residents, and
[2:40] they're really excited about it,
and we can have a conversation
[2:43] about what they're seeing here
[2:44] to, you know, maybe some folks
[2:46] are less familiar
with what's going on.
[2:47] And the question is more along
[2:49] the lines
of, well, what is this?
[2:50] What are you doing here?
[2:51] And that's an opportunity
for us to provide some education
[2:54] to residents and get folks
a little more aware
[2:56] of what's
going on in the watershed
[2:57] and what
we're doing for Powers Lake.
[3:01] We invite not just City of
[3:03] Woodbury residents
to come and check out this park.
[3:05] Everyone across
[3:06] Washington County,
across the Metro,
[3:07] if you see this, it's
a really unique space.
[3:10] We hope to do
more of this type of work
[3:11] as we move into the future
and appreciate everyone coming
[3:14] along on the ride.
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Other Topics from This Document
Hasenbank Park stormwater treatment project overview
Public art installations as interpretive educational features
Watershed district and city collaboration
Stormwater management and infiltration operations
Landscape restoration and soil health initiatives
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