The City of Morgantown was struggling with a pedestrian plaza that needed to be reconstructed due to pavement settlement, standing water issues, and water flowing into the Public Safety Building basement, which is adjacent to the project site.
The Public Safety Building plaza is a central location in the downtown area. The City wanted the reconstructed space to be durable, cost-effective, and contemporary in design to complement the existing building.
LDG led the design process, utilizing a concept design prepared by the City’s Urban Landscape committee. We met with the committee on a monthly basis to develop the design, offer alternative solutions to identified design issues, and manage the available budget of $310,000.
The project required survey, geotechnical engineering, landscape architecture, and structural engineering services. LDG provided all these services in-house, so the client did not have to manage multiple consultants.
The new plaza design includes masonry seat walls, replacement of structural concrete slabs acting as the roof for the adjacent building basement, removal of 4 feet of unsuitable soils replaced with geogrid and structural fill, an intricate concrete paver design, night lighting, replacement stormwater conveyance system, landscaping, and a statue of Colonel Zackquill Morgan, founder of Morgantown.