The Steel Yard
Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.A.
Once a significant industrial center, Providence, Rhode Island’s “Industrial Valley” began to suffer in the 1970’s and 1980’s as investment became increasingly focused on downtown commercial districts and residential neighborhoods, rather than in areas dedicated to industrial production. Olneyville, one of Providence’s oldest and poorest neighborhoods, has many abandoned industrial buildings where informal artist “squatters” congregate.
Photo: Earliest Remaining Industrial Buildings in Providence / Phillip C. Marshall
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Despite the problems associated with vacant industrial buildings, the local community protested efforts by local developers to demolish formerly-industrial complexes in favor of suburban-style developments. In 2000, more than 300 artists stormed city hall over a proposal to demolish several mill buildings in the Valley. This event sparked a preservation movement that focused on the area’s historic mills.
Photo: The Eagle Square Project / Phillip C. Marshall
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In Providence’s Industrial & Commercial Buildings Historic District in Olneyville, a 3.5-acre property was home to Providence Steel and Iron for more than a century. When the company went out of business in 2001, the property was purchased by Nick Bauta and Clay Rockefeller who formed a new non-profit called The Steel Yard. They believed the property had not yet “outlived its purpose” and could become a community space with well-equipped shop for local metalworkers.
Photo: Klopfer Martin Design Group, photo by Christian Phillips Photography
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Rather than demolishing the existing site, The Steel Yard team hired landscape architecture firm Klopfer Martin Design Group to turn the brownfield into a modern public park that reflects Providence’s rebranding as the “Creative Capital.” The new park, which capitalizes on the site’s existing structures, is now used for industrial arts education, workforce training, and small-scale manufacturing.
Photo: Klopfer Martin Design Group, photo by Christian Phillips Photography
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The park includes a large central space for events such as car rallies and farmer’s markets. This space is framed by secondary metalwork spaces which include a foundry and artist studio. Other smaller spaces provide storage for materials and art pieces.
Photo: Klopfer Martin Design Group
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The site was classified as a brownfield because of the lead paint used in the original facility. Highly contaminated was extracted and the remaining contaminated soil was treated to reduce soil disturbance. A cap of 12 inches of clean fill or pavement was added across the entire landscape.
Photo: Klopfer Martin Design Group
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The new park’s design was driven by a need for paved work spaces as well as expanses of permeable pavement to keep stormwater run-off from leaving the park. The solution is a paved plane, known as “the carpet,” which is woven with heavy- and light-duty pavements, impermeable and pervious materials, and built over the existing contaminated soils.
Photo: ASLA 2011 Professional General Design Honor Award. The Steel Yard Park / Christian Phillips Photography
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Given Steel Yard Park is part of the Narragansett Bay watershed, keeping and filtering stormwater on site was a priority. Through a system of permeable surfaces and bioswales, the new park infiltrates 90 percent of annual rainfall.
Photo: Klopfer Martin Design Group, photo by Christian Phillips Photography
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Ensuring contaminated soil doesn’t spread off-site required building a series of “moats” that direct water infiltration and control the volume of stormwater being held. These moats are found at the edge of “the carpet,” helping to reconcile a grade displacement.
Photo: Klopfer Martin Design Group, photo by Christian Phillips Photography
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The moats are filled with water-loving plants that filter stormwater and prevent erosion of the swales. This planting strategy was also used to establish vegetation across the previously-impermeable property without conflicting with event or work spaces.
Photo: Klopfer Martin Design Group, photo by Christian Phillips Photography
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Native pioneer and volunteer plant species were introduced, with the expectation they would re-colonize the property and preserve the abandoned place’s existing look and feel – that of an urban wilderness in an industrial setting.
Photo: ASLA 2011 Professional General Design Honor Award. The Steel Yard Park / Christian Phillips Photography
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Project Facts
- Olneyville, one of Providence’s oldest and poorest neighborhoods, has many abandoned industrial buildings. When Olneyville’s Providence Steel and Iron went out of business in 2001, the property was purchased by a new non-profit called The Steel Yard. The new owners believed that rather than demolishing the existing structures, the property could be repurposed as a community space for local artists.
- Instead of completely removing the contaminated soil on the property, a cap of 12 inches of clean fill or permeable pavement was added across the entire site.
- A series of “moats” controls the volume of stormwater throughout the Steel Yard, which is important for preventing contaminated water run-off from entering the city’s sewer system.
- Native pioneer and volunteer species were introduced to re-colonize the industrial property and preserve the abandoned building’s existing look and feel.
PROJECT TYPE
- Urban
- Brownfield
- Park
Environmental Benefits
- Re-uses Waste
- Removes Toxic Chemicals
- Reintroduces Native Plants
- Captures Water
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