GreenBlue Urban

City of Waupaca
Waupaca, WI

Project Details

Architect
Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc. (SEH)
Location
Waupaca, WI
Project Year
2021

The city of Waupaca, WI hired landscape architects Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc. (SEH) to design the reconstruction of four blocks of their downtown Main Street. The Vision for Waupaca’s Downtown Streetscape was crafted to artfully tie together the city’s heritage, industry and natural resources. SEH was tasked with developing a design that integrated all three. Because the city sits along the Waupaca River, the plan used a linear “flowing river” to draw people from one end of the street to the other by utilizing vertical markers such as lights, plantings and furnishings to provide places for people to connect, shop and relax. City leaders and planners wanted the downtown plan was to celebrate the natural environment by complementing it with “green practices” and managing stormwater. The city’s infrastructure was over 100 years old and both the water and sewer systems needed to be replaced.

GreenBlue Urban's Contribution:
SEH selected the GreenBlue Urban ArborSystem® for its treescaping and stormwater management aspects. The ArborSystem allows landscape professionals to combine root management, structural soil components, aeration, irrigation and a choice of appropriate above ground surface grille and vertical guard, all in a single package.

The ArborSystem tree planting package consists of the following elements:

Soil Cells
Irrigation & Aeration
Root Management
Rootball Guying
Tree Surrounds
Stormwater Management
29 ArborSystem packages were utilized along Main Street to help establish SEH’s “flowing river” plan, while also reducing urban runoff of rainwater which tackles issues of flooding, erosion and infrastructure damage.

The Result:
Waupaca’s Director of Public Works, Justin Berrens, says the city celebrated the end of the construction with a street party and Halloween bash on Friday, October 29th, 2021. Berrens says response to the downtown improvements has shown widespread approval of a job well done.

Project Resource Files

GreenBlue Intro Video
Design Guide
Product Overview
ArborSystem® Manual