Whitewater Park improvements attract tourists

Fehr Graham partnered with Martin Gardner Architecture and Confluence (Landscape Architecture) to enhance Manchester Whitewater Park. We designed a new entrance, shelter with restrooms and exterior showers, parking, kiosks featuring historic facts, points of interest and wildlife information, and open space amenities along West Main Street. Fehr Graham has been a partner in Manchester Whitewater Park since its inception in 2010.

Recreation areas are important to promote growth and maintain a community's quality of life. Residents value the area's recreational options, and many consider these factors when deciding where they want to live. Manchester Whitewater Park is a place where visitors can enjoy outdoor adventures year-round. Since it opened in May 2015, the park has attracted visitors from every county in Iowa and from nearby states, which helps the local economy grow.

Residents also benefit. The park stimulated improvements to roads, sidewalks and more along West Main Street. From the beginning, Fehr Graham helped the City facilitate meetings to get public input. We held more meetings in 2017 when the City wanted to enhance the park. The community offered several ideas, which we weighed before making budget-conscious suggestions to City leaders. We faced an unexpected problem with permitting and had to change our designs. Our team learned a lot about public water feature permits during the project. Our final design of the park accommodated the City's desire to add amenities as money becomes available.

Our design focused on creating an interactive and attractive park. The play area has balance beams and an embankment slide. Swinging benches were strategically placed, so those enjoying them can watch kayakers and tubers. Construction started in 2018 and was completed in summer 2019.

AT A GLANCE
» Designed park layout.
» Designed boat access.
» Coordinated park utilities.
» Coordinated with adjacent properties.