The project involved the restoration of a stream meander to the existing straight-line configuration of the creek, wetland vegetation restoration, and construction of a boardwalk. The project will increase public access and provide educational signage throughout the site.

Background

Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) first started working with Park Nicollet Health Services in 2004 when Park Nicollet submitted a Cynthia Krieg Watershed Stewardship Grant application for assistance with an Education Project. The hospital wanted to construct rain garden with education signage on the Methodist Hospital property in St. Louis Park to improve the quality of stormwater runoff draining from the site into Minnehaha Creek. Methodist Hospital applied for and received two Cynthia Krieg Watershed Stewardship Grants during 2004 for educational projects.

Why MCWD Chose to Partner

Given Methodist Hospital's dedication to improving Minnehaha Creek and its proximity to the creek (a number of parcels are located around and adjacent to Minnehaha Creek), the MCWD Board of Managers directed staff to investigate other opportunities for the MCWD and Methodist Hospital to partner on environmental improvements in the future. This led to the Minnehaha Creek Re-meander and Boardwalk Project. The Methodist Hospital Project Partnership enabled MCWD to implement a project that enhanced a regional resource (Minnehaha Creek), provided benefit to its private partner and its clients while also providing for increased recreation and education within a heavily urbanized area of the Minnehaha Creek corridor. All of these project elements are mirrored in the MCWD Mission Statement.

Innovative Thinking

This project provided a positive impact within the community on many levels. Channel sinuosity was increased promoting water to leave the banks in certain flow conditions and interact with the adjacent riparian wetland. Residents from the neighborhood will have a recreational amenity to enjoy nature throughout the year. Further, patients at the hospital will receive therapeutic benefits and safe access to a natural area. Research shows that patients recover more quickly when they are able to experience the outdoor environment — directly or visually –- while healing. The wetland and creek at Methodist Hospital increase the hospital’s connection to the outdoor environment in a beautiful way that goes far beyond the traditional “healing garden".

The boardwalk trail through the wetland at Methodist Hospital provides a safe and secure way for patients and their family and friends, as well as the surrounding community, to enjoy the diverse natural environment along Minnehaha Creek. Resting stations with seating and interpretive signs, access to the creek, wildlife habitat and observation, and the ever-changing palette of native grasses and wildflowers throughout the seasons make it a rich sensory experience.

The concept was inspired by Methodist Hospital’s new Heart and Vascular Center. Like the human heart’s four chambers, the trail design is composed of four spaces: three trail loops and an area designed to attract wildlife. A new re-meander in Minnehaha Creek, which restores the channel more closely to its original morphology, is the hydrologic circulatory system that ties the entire design together.

More information
- “Methodist Hospital Project,” Background document for a tour. November 2010.

- “Park Nicollet plans to restore Minnehaha Creek to its natural path,” by Seth Rowe, Sun Newspapers. September 2008. 
-  A summary video produced by Prairie Restoration Inc., a sub-contrctor on the project: