Sandorf Park - Repurpose & Reuse of Old Landfill

Overview:

KERAMIDA served as the Turnkey General Manager for this multimillion dollar project resulting in a beautiful Park and Playground with the most environmentally protective features.

Sandorf Park had historically been an old landfill in Indianapolis, Indiana. The City of Indianapolis was interested in finding a new purpose for the old landfill and ultimately modernizing the Park’s amenities to benefit the neighborhood and adjacent public middle school, and encourage the larger community to use the Park – the only one in the area.

The City hired KERAMIDA to support the Park’s revitalization, remediate the landfill, and manage the reuse construction activities. The result is a beautiful six acre park, with an acre and a half of updated children’s playground equipment, two multi-use courts, a pump track, and other striking features. The project was part of the National Recreation and Parks Association’s (NPRA) Parks Build Community initiative.

Sandorf Park Before:

Sandorf Park After:

Project Details:

KERAMIDA began the preliminary environmental site assessment activities in the spring of 2018. The initial assessment revealed that the Sandorf Park (Park), located at 1917 South State Avenue, Indianapolis, Indiana (Marion County), was used as a historic industrial waste disposal area. The Park was created in 1959 by the City of Indianapolis (City) and is adjacent to Indianapolis Public School (IPS) Frederick Douglas School #19. Based on historical air photos, it appeared filling took place beginning in the earliest air photo available (1937). By 1956, filling on the Park property had stopped, though adjacent properties show continued filling. The Park property appeared to be a sand and gravel quarry filled in with foundry type waste. Test pitting revealed foundry sand, slag, and metal debris. 

KERAMIDA’s initial environmental site assessment activities included:

• A search of publicly available environmental records of past ownership and property uses. A series of geophysical surveys to evaluate soil disturbances and buried anomalies;

• A visual assessment of subsurface conditions, based on advanced test pits and soil borings across the property; and

• Waste sample analysis for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), metals, and PCBs.

Results of the initial environmental site assessment prompted City officials to request technical assistance from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) so that the Park’s revitalization could incorporate protections of human health and the environment. Specifically, City officials requested IDEM input regarding the following aspects of the Park’s revitalization:

• The need for additional subsurface soil, waste material, and groundwater investigations;

• The need for a present cover evaluation and certification;

• The need for waste material removal and off-site disposal, if needed; and

• Material capping requirements and alternative capping options, if any.

KERAMIDA drafted a Park Closure Plan & Post-Closure Use Plan:

KERAMIDA drafted a comprehensive Park Closure Plan and Post-Closure Use Plan to minimize exposure to the ground surface of the Park, prevent vertical infiltration of water into wastes left in place that would create contaminated leachate, and create a land surface that can support vegetation and/or be used for continued recreational purposes.

The Park Closure Plan and Post-closure Use Plan addressed historical investigations, groundwater conditions, current cover information, and a capping plan, in accordance with the IDEM Remediation Program guidance. The Closure Plan was approved by IDEM in June 2019.

Since Park Closure Plan and Post-closure Use Plan acceptance, the Park’s design team changed the Park’s capping system to better enhance the physical attributes of the Park. In addition to the removal of waste to a depth of two feet below ground surface (bgs) and replacement with an 18-inch thick, low permeability soil liner and a six-inch thick topsoil layer, two additional barriers were incorporated into the Post-closure Use Plan:

1. A barrier type consisting of hard surfaces (e.g. concrete sidewalks, court surfaces, and porous pavements).

   • For these barrier types, waste excavation depths varied depending on the subbase materials required for installation of the specific surface (e.g. stone base under concrete).

2. A barrier type consisting of hard play surfaces.

   • For these surfaces, waste excavation depths varied depending on the subbase materials required for installation of the surface. Play surfaces are permeable; and so, their profile included an impervious layer of asphalt below the play surfaces. Asphalt surfaces captured stormwater and drained the accumulated water into solid pipes that carry the stormwater to a bio-retention pond located in the southeastern corner of the property.

The revised Park Closure Plan and Post-closure Use Plan describing updated site grading and landscaping plans, and the various alternative cover systems more appropriate for the Park and playground use were approved by IDEM in February 2020.

The Park design team included KERAMIDA, landscape architects, civil engineers, and construction managers. KERAMIDA served as the turn-key general manager for the multimillion-dollar project. 

Lessons Learned:

• Urban renewal projects often come with unique health and safety considerations including: encountering hypodermic needles, facing stray dogs, job-site trailer break-ins, equipment theft, and perimeter fence breaches.

• Constant maintenance of effective, clear communication channels among project and task-related teams is essential especially with two disparate teams (environmental and construction).

• Task sequencing must be carefully thought through among the Project teams to minimize possible rework and unintended consequences or results. 

• Be flexible and adapt to site conditions and client directives.

• Think big but plan for the details.

Read more about this amazing project in the National Park and Recreation Association article “Worth the Wait — the Sandorf Park Renovation Is Complete!”

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