The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) has celebrated another schoolyard’s green infrastructure transformation through its partnership, Space to Grow®.
An older asphalt lot at the Robert A. Black Magnet Elementary School has been transformed into a vibrant place for both play and flood mitigation.
“Say goodbye to the puddles and hello to a new place to play, learn and enjoy for the entire community,” says MWRD President Kari K. Steele. “New upgrades at Robert A. Black Magnet Elementary School will enhance the learning experience and protect the larger community from storms and improve our area water quality. Thank you to our Space to Grow partners for pursuing this exciting project.”
The schoolyard at Black Magnet Elementary now includes an artificial turf field, basketball courts, porous playground surfacing, several play hills and rain gardens, and an outdoor classroom. Thanks to the new and improved permeable surfaces, the school will now be able to hold an additional 94,743 gallons of stormwater each time it rains.
Because of this added storage capacity, the $1.5 million project at Black Magnet Elementary reduces flooding, reduces basement backups, reduces the load on the combined sewer system and educates students and neighbors about green infrastructure techniques and purpose.
The transformation was the product of a partnership between MWRD, the Chicago Department of Water Management, Chicago Public Schools (CPS), Healthy Schools Campaign, and Openlands.
Black Magnet Elementary is the 34th school completed by the Space to Grow partnership since 2014. Combined, the 34 CPS schools can store more than 6.5 million gallons per rain event.
Black Magnet Elementary is the partnership’s fourth and final schoolyard transformation for the year.
“This new playground at Black Magnet Elementary School brings the community of students and their families together, but it also unites us in our mission to address our water environment and protect neighbors from flooding,” says MWRD Commissioner Mariyana Spyropoulos. “Thank you to the Space to Grow partners and school leadership for accepting this new mission. Through this approach, we are preparing students and future leaders and educating them on the importance of green infrastructure and sustainable solutions to manage stormwater.”
