Blight to Beauty: Revitalizing Malleable Iron
Project Overview
Once a center of industrial activity, the Malleable Iron site located in Saginaw County, now tells a different story. Formerly part of the RACER Trust, this 334-acre property along the Saginaw River had been inactive for ten years, turning it into an eyesore and a blight on the neighborhood.
The RACER Trust was established following General Motors’ bankruptcy restructuring and set up by the US government for environmental cleanup and management. Despite facing numerous environmental challenges, including contaminated soil, it was revitalized by Saginaw County Parks & Recreation Commission and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR). In 2019, the DNR Parks and Recreation purchased the site with restrictive covenants in place to dictate future use and development. A lease agreement between the MDNR and Saginaw County was developed in tandem with the acquisition. Under the covenants, strict limits were set on the land’s future use to either industrial purposes or passive recreation and three restrictive covenants were filed on the site.
Faced with constraints imposed by environmental regulations, F&V was enlisted to design a new vision for the site. Tasked with creating a trail system, parking areas, observation platforms, and other park features, F&V managed to navigate where planned trails would be located and how to construct them without violating the limitations of the restricted covenants. Excavation of soil was not permitted without special handling and groundwater use was prohibited. F&V incorporated existing environmental controls, including cover systems to provide direct contact barriers with the contaminated soil.
Despite these challenges, the project took shape over several years. F&V made sure the trails and other features were smoothly integrated with the site’s environmental controls, creating a space where visitors can appreciate the river and the surrounding landscape’s natural beauty, all while safeguarding future patrons. The result is a carefully crafted park, years in the making, now ready for the community to enjoy.
