Building on the Tower Grove Park Master Plan, the East Stream Restoration was selected for the design and implementation. During the Master Planning Process, park leadership carefully mapped the park’s future, curating select projects within the rich historic fabric to enhance. The restoration of the east stream presented the park with a unique opportunity to explore the nexus of historic Victorian park design and forward-thinking resilient infrastructure development. The east stream was piped in the early 1900s and the park had continued to evolve as a public park and arboretum ever since. Once the design team was selected a one-year design schedule was started to rediscover the east stream and integrate it into the existing fabric of the park. Accounting for 110 years of change since the stream was buried, the design team emphasized existing conditions and data collection early in the project, allowing this to guide the hands of the design team over the following months. Funding for the project, including a generous endowment gift for ongoing maintenance, was provided by the Crawford Taylor Foundation, members of the Kindle and Taylor families, and MSD Project Clear.

Here, the stream meanders through 5 acres of native Missouri savanna, wet meadow, and emergent wetland habitat, charging a treatment train of bioretention basins. Each basin fills to capacity, treating the water and allowing excess to move on to the next basin. A scaled Osage village and full-size lodge footprint are nestled in a mature sweetgum grove in the middle reach. As visitors enter the third leg of the stream, they find themselves in a gathering space surrounded by native plantings, overlooking the basin area of the restoration. The basin features two bioretention areas that can be controlled with valves to sustain water and create a wetland experience.