The Ingham County Drain Commissioner’s transformation of Ranney Park into a multi-use community park and green infrastructure site received a Design Honor Award from the Michigan Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (MiASLA). Located in East Lansing, the project has enhanced stormwater control and reduced pollution into the Red Cedar River by 90%. Wade Trim provided conceptual and electrical design, structural engineering, and landscape architecture services for the project.

A nature-based stormwater solution was needed to simultaneously address flooding, pollution, and public space needs. Confined to 11 acres, Ranney Park’s design features a complex series of detention basins, channels, waterfalls, and wetlands. A treatment train concept was used to create a sequence of integrated stormwater practices that mimic natural hydrologic processes. Collected stormwater erupts out of a custom 160-foot-long water quality wall and continues to circulate and run downhill through open pools, brooks, and rocky cascades before exiting the park to a large stormwater pond across Michigan Avenue.

All park features were designed to be both visually stunning and integral to controlling and treating stormwater before it discharges to the river. Pedestrians can enjoy recreational amenities such as trails, boardwalks connecting islands, overlooks, and a sledding hill. In addition, the project provided wildlife habitat restoration improvements via woody debris structures, rock basking and nesting areas, hibernacula, and native plantings.

This project is a significant achievement in the Ingham County Drain Commissioner’s larger network of sustainable stormwater improvements, led by GEI Consultants, for the 270-acre Montgomery Drain watershed. Now a valued community destination, Ranney Park demonstrates how the challenges of urbanization and growth can be addressed with a sustainable, restorative solution that serves as a beautiful recreational space and an essential component of stormwater control and treatment.

Wade Trim staff Katie Dennis (left) and Scot Lautzenheiser (middle) accepted the Honor Award from MiASLA’s Immediate Past President at their Gala on October 7, 2026, in East Lansing, MI.