SESSION B3-A Rocky Branch - Re-envisioning the Urban Stream
The Rocky Branch Enhancement Project is an extraordinarily unique project that evaluates the feasibility of transforming the degraded one-mile stretch of urban Rocky Branch as it stands today into an engaging, vibrant, and resilient waterfront amenity. Adding to the complexity of this project is the creek’s proximity to an existing, adjacent pre-regulatory landfill that will be directly impacted by the stream realignment and restoration, requiring a collaborative multidisciplinary team approach to manage all environmental impacts both today and in the future.
The restoration of the Rocky Branch corridor is vital to the overall redevelopment vision for Dorothea Dix Park. The vision of the Rocky Branch project is to create not only an aesthetically pleasing Raleigh waterfront but also to design and create a place that is a truly unique community resource, a regional destination that educates and instills a sense of wonder into those who visit and experience it.
Learning Objectives:
Urban Stream Morphology – Redefining stream morphology within an urban context to provide healthy habitat, improve water quality, and offer safe and inviting pedestrian accessibility.
Management of Multi-disciplinary Teams – Today’s challenges require collaboration among a diverse set of design professionals to solve complex site issues.
Analyze, evaluate, and test design solutions through a multi-disciplinary lens. Through evaluation, discussion, and analysis, the Rocky Branch Enhancement Project combined data from landscape architects, environmental engineers, stream engineers, and civil engineers to test design options.
Understanding the importance and significance of this project in the larger context of the park and the surrounding community?
The format is a hybrid, with an initial 20-minute presentation to introduce the project followed by a panel discussion of 40 minutes. The lecture and presentation will guide the audience through an overview of the project, and the panel discussion will address various aspects of the project with representatives from the City of Raleigh, Dix Park Conservancy, and the Design Team.
Robert Pratt
Robert Pratt is a Principal at Surface 678 and a practicing landscape architect with over 16 years of experience. Robert’s expertise is in the creative planning and design of exterior public spaces at university campuses, parks and within urban settings.He is particularly interested by the role of landscape architects in creating outdoor environments that artistically respond to stormwater management needs, allowing our profession the unique opportunity to improve both the quality of nature and human experience through responsible and integrated design. He takes pride in contributing to the planning, design, and construction of vibrant outdoor spaces within the communities we live and work in. Robert served as the project manager and landscape architect for the Rocky Branch Enhancement Feasibility Study project.
Janet Cowell
Janet is the CEO/President of Dix Park Conservancy and a corporate director. She was North Carolina State Treasurer from 2009 to 2016.
Dix Park Conservancy is a non-profit that works in partnership with the City of Raleigh to create Dorothea Dix Park, a 308-acre site with a dramatic landscape and complex historical legacy one mile from downtown. The Conservancy has raised ~$40 million during her tenure and ~$70 million since inception.
Cowell serves as Lead Independent Director for New Republic Partners, Chair of IFM’s Global Infrastructure Fund Investor Advisory Committee, Chair of Wharton’s Executive Education Board, and Chair of the NC Board of Science, Technology, and Innovation. She helped to found OnBoardNC, a non-profit organization promoting women on boards. Cowell held publicly elected office in North Carolina for fifteen years, including eight as State Treasurer. The first woman elected Treasurer, she managed over $100 billion in assets, and health and retirement benefits, for over 900,000 members.
Cowell is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and earned her MBA and MA in International Studies from the Wharton School of Business and the Lauder Institute.
John Hutton
John is Vice President and Senior Project Manager for Wildlands and has experience in the assessment and restoration of streams and wetlands. He serves as the senior technical advisor for wetlands restoration within the firm. Mr. Hutton has managed numerous large-scale restoration projects for a variety of public and private clients throughout the Southeast including over 30 miles of restored stream and over 365 acres of restored wetlands. He has been responsible for all aspects of stream and wetland restoration projects including site searches, feasibility studies, mitigation planning, mitigation design, construction management, and post-construction monitoring. Mr. Hutton has also served as project manager on a number of watershed and water quality projects throughout the Southeast.
Dean Perry
Dean is a Senior Planner with Raleigh Parks and manages Dix Park’s planning, design, and construction projects. Prior to joining the Dix Park team, he managed capital improvement projects across Raleigh’s parks system and worked as a designer for landscape architecture firms. Project experience includes healthcare landscapes overseas, finding boulders for the dog park, lots of playgrounds large and small, and park planning studies. He holds an undergraduate degree in Community & Regional Planning and Geography from Appalachian State University and a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from Virginia Tech. Dean’s passion for parks continues after the workday as a member of the Town of Cary’s Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources Advisory Board.