The Shoreline Restoration Committee has chosen SLR International Corporation to perform the site analysis and design work leading to a nature-based coastal resilience plan to address necessary coastal resilience and ecological restoration of a 1.5-acre portion of the shoreline adjacent to Old Grove Park in West Haven.
“The Land Trust of West Haven and the City, along with City Council members Gary Donovan and Colleen O’Connor, and others from environmental groups in the city, have been collaborating on this project for the past year,” said project co-coordinators Marilyn Wilkes, Vice President, Land Trust, and Mark Paine, Director, Parks and Recreation. “The goal is to restore that area of the shoreline and create a best practice model for coastal ecosystem exploration with a ‘living classroom.’ It will be an aesthetically pleasing area with environmental resilience filled with educational opportunity.”
SLR was chosen because it has decades of experience successfully working on projects in West Haven, completing ecological restoration projects, coastal area management analysis and planning, and municipal park planning and designs. It also submitted the lowest bid on the Request for Proposal. SLR is a global leader in environmental and advisory solutions that help clients achieve their sustainability goals.
“SLR is excited to partner with the Shoreline Restoration Committee on this important project. Though small in size, the landscape position of this site displays enormous potential to serve as a restoration model for other parts of the fantastic West Haven shoreline,” said Megan B. Raymond, Principal Scientist at SLR, who will lead the ecological portion of the project. Jason Williams, Principal Landscape Architect, will lead the concept design effort.
The Shoreline Restoration Committee will work with SLR over the course of five months as it creates a site analysis of the 1.5 acres; a site assessment report including natural/green infrastructure opportunities; preparation of two draft concept plans for the project; ongoing community involvement up to and including collecting community input on draft plans; preparation of a final Nature-Based Coastal Resilience Plan; and creation of preliminary engineering plans to 30% design.
For more information on the Shoreline Restoration project and updates, visit the Land Trust of West Haven website or the City’s website.