Great River School Stormwater
Great River School is an urban Montessori charter school in Saint Paul, Minnesota, hosting primary through high school grade levels. Blackstone Contractors was chosen by Great River School to convert an existing parking lot into a multi-functional natural play and educational outdoor classroom area that functions much like a green roof – capturing, collecting and filtering stormwater runoff. Stormwater that does leave the property is treated in an underground Jellyfish® that utilizes a membrane-type filtration system to remove floatables, oil, total suspended solids, as well as particulate-bound pollutants before entering the larger underground stormwater network.
The project included construction of an outdoor amphitheater-style classroom, wet-cast block retaining walls, limestone outcroppings, a natural play area, an above-ground stormwater storage cistern with mechanical and electrical systems for water collection and diversion controls, an automatic irrigation system, and native landscape plantings.
