Mill City Church Commons

Mill City Church upgraded its shared community meeting space — Mill City Church Commons — with an innovative, stormwater-friendly landscape. The MWMO funded the design through a Planning Grant and awarded an Action Grant to help pay for the construction.

The property has a long history of drainage problems. The building has a sump pump that runs regularly, draining to a common area where the building’s gutter downspouts are also directed. The neighborhood in which the site is located, Marshall Terrace, has a relatively high water table compared to the rest of Minneapolis. As a result, traditional infiltration practices are not likely to address local stormwater management issues.

The landscape was redesigned with an engineered wetland that captures water from the sump pump and then treats it and conveys it slowly through the site using a system of layered aggregates. Separately, a new rain garden captures and treats runoff entering the site from adjacent properties. The new landscape features are designed to retain all of the area’s runoff from a 1.5-inch rain event.

The MWMO Planning Grant allowed Mill City Church to hire Urban Ecosystems, LLC, to create the landscape design. Church leaders and the designer held a community feedback session about the project in December 2017 in which they allowed visitors to experience the design using a virtual reality headset and controller. Stone Arch Landscapes was contracted to do the construction.

In addition to the stormwater features, the redesigned Mill City Church Commons property includes a number of functional improvements, such as better accessibility for persons with disabilities and new amenities. Future education and outreach opportunities could include interpretive signage, a grand opening, volunteer events and tours.

Mill City Church Commons project page

See more photos of this project on Flickr.