Fort Missoula Regional Park

Missoula, MT—Honor Award, Parks & Rec/Sports Fields

CONSULTANT:

Greg Baer
Baer Design Group, LLC
Eagle, ID

 

PROJECT BACKGROUND:

  • This new Regional park includes nine high performance sand based grass soccer fields.
  • one sand based rugby field.
  • one synthetic soccer field.
  • five high performance baseball fields.
  • Two softball fields.
  • Tennis courts.
  • Cricket courts, horseshoe pits, dog park, pathways, amphitheater, and outbuildings.

 

ROLE OF THE IRRIGATION CONSULTANT:

  • Evaluate feasibility of multiple irrigation water sources; gravity, municipal, tertiary or ground water.
  • Coordinated with City legal counsel and Montana DNRC on irrigation water rights, transfer of water rights, diversion rates and applications.
  • Collaborate and coordinate with Agronomist on soil types, soil depths, grass types and target root zones.
  • Prepared construction documents, specifications and details for an irrigation system that is web based and centrally controlled.
  • Developed detailed color-coded irrigation as-builts.

 

SPECIAL FACTORS:

  • Lack of water rights for the City property and poor soil conditions. Once we identified a responsible and feasible solution for irrigation water, it was critical that we developed a highly efficient and manageable irrigation system to minimize water use.
  • The sports fields are in high demand throughout the year. Extreme use of the high-performance fields would not be possible without the collaborative efforts between the Agronomist and Irrigation Consultant. Collaborating with an Agronomist to screen native material and develop a soil amendment solution that provided a nutrient rich soil with high water holding capacity at a percolation rate reflective of the sprinkler precipitation rate.

 

SIGNIFICANCE:

  • Preservation of historic and cultural elements of Fort Missoula was a critical part of the planning process. Historic Fort Missoula was constructed in 1877 and has housed the U.S. Infantry, a military training post, and even a World War II internment camp. It was also the site of the largest Civilian Conservation Corp headquarters in the U.S. from 1933 to 1941.

 

IMAGES:

To view project images, click HERE