News

April 26, 2012

Volunteers needed to help keep Summerbrook Park beautiful

Contact: 
Amy Bryant, P.E.
Ankeny Municipal Utilities Department
515.963.3520
abryant@ankenyiowa.gov

ANKENY, Iowa (June 7, 2012) - Have you noticed the recent improvements made to Summerbrook Park? A very popular park for walkers and bikers, this park is also equipped with a playground and swings, picnic area, basketball court, and winter sledding hill. Through various grant sources, the City was able to complete a streambank restoration while adding stormwater retrofit features to address rainwater and snow melt, educate patrons and beautify the park. 

Located along busy SE Delaware between SE 8th Street and SE 9th Street, many of the stormwater retrofits added are visible as you drive as well as walk. A series of bioretention cells are located between the sidewalk and road along SE Delaware. A curb cut along the road allows stormwater on the road to enter the cells, have a chance to be cooled, cleansed, and infiltrated into the ground. These cells are edged in limestone and planted with plants native to Iowa. 

You may have also noticed a small stretch of asphalt trail with three gardens along it. This trail is not ordinary asphalt. It is actually a porous asphalt trail that allows water to infiltrate into the ground below it, instead of sheeting off like standard trails. The three gardens are planted with plants native to Iowa. They serve as demonstration beds for what residents can plant at home. Native plants are ideally suited to Iowa’s variable climate. Additionally, they develop deep roots structures that help improve the soil and help more precipitation infiltrate into the ground. All the planting beds in the park have been designed to bloom from early spring to late fall and with plants that are easily adapted to a homeowner’s yard.

On Wednesday, June 13, starting at 6:30 p.m., the Stormwater Stakeholders Group and the City will be working on weeding and cleaning up the native planting beds and bioretention cells at Summerbrook Park. To help keep it looking beautiful, volunteers are needed for this event. Volunteers will need to bring their own gardening tools and gloves. The group will meet at the northern end of the park by the native landscaping beds/porous asphalt trail or just south of SE 8th Street.

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