FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The City of Springfield has issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) through 1 p.m., Nov. 16 for construction manager at risk services for the construction of the Renew Jordan Creek project from Main Avenue to Boonville Avenue.
Renew Jordan Creek is a multi-phase project that will “daylight” Jordan Creek by significantly modifying the existing Jordan Creek floodplain and floodway areas that are currently confined in concrete box culverts that run east to west through downtown Springfield.
This phase of the project comprises two large blocks in the urbanized center of Jordan Valley Park, bordered on the east by Boonville Avenue, Water Street on the south, Main Avenue on the west, and Mill Street on the north. Much of the project area is within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) floodplain within downtown Springfield. Although the project is intended to contribute significantly to reductions in flooding, it is also anticipated to perform as an urban amenity and catalyst for further private redevelopment of this area of downtown.
According to the RFQ, the City has elected to pursue the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) project delivery method for this project. The selected CMAR will provide planning and construction services and professional inputs pertaining to construction schedules, construction market conditions, budgets, project-specific means/methods & constructability, and overall project construction costs.
“The Renew Jordan Creek project is large-scale and complicated,”explains project manager Kirkland Preston. “The goal for using CMAR is to bring the construction industry in early so we can integrate real-world construction expertise and guidance on constructability into the design process.”
An RFQ for architectural and engineering services on the project was issued in July 2020. The City selected engineering firm Olsson, who will provide civil engineering and landscape architecture design for the project. Olsson will work in partnership with the selected CMAR firm as the design continues to be developed.
About Jordan Creek
Jordan Creek runs through the heart of downtown Springfield, two blocks north of the square. The stream was once pristine and unspoiled, sustained by natural springs. In 1830, Springfield’s founder John Polk Campbell and his family were the first to settle along its banks.
Over the years settlers began complaining about the flooding of the stream, and they used it as a garbage dump. As more settlers moved to the area, the stream became polluted and stagnant. As Springfield prospered, additional development occurred along the creek, concentrating rainfall to flood the Jordan Valley. In response, in the early 1930s, the creek was enclosed with massive twin box culverts, two-thirds of a mile long, to help contain flooding.
The combination of industrial users vacating Jordan Valley, postwar efforts to improve health and address pollution, and recent efforts at controlling flooding upstream have created new opportunities for Jordan Creek. In the late 1990s the community cast a vision for Jordan Valley Park, an almost two-mile long, 150-acre linear park with the creek running through most of it. The east and west ends of the park will consist of large passive open spaces, and the center is compressed into an urbanized area one block wide and several blocks in length.
Since 2014, Jordan Creek has been listed on the Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ 303(d) List of Impaired Waters due to impairment by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in stream sediment. Partial funding for the Renew Jordan Creek project is provided by a Section 319 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for stream bank and soil restoration, tree plantings, and disconnection of impervious surfaces to provide a buffer from loading of PAHs.
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For questions regarding the RFQ, please contact Kirkland Preston, Department of Public Works – Stormwater at 417-864-1990 or [email protected]. Media are asked to contact Communication Coordinator Kristen Milam at 573-819-3713 or [email protected]