Client/Builder/Developer:   Miracle League of Montgomery County / G.E. Fielder & Associates
Location:  Germantown, Montgomery County, MD
Market: Recreation
Size:  9.1 Acres
Zoning: R-200
Density:  N/A

Miracle Fields is a specially equipped and designed sports park complex in Germantown that gives all children, specifically those with mental and physical challenges, the opportunity to play baseball and software. The park serves communities in Montgomery County, and surrounding counties, Virginia, and Washington DC. Prior to partial redesign of the east-central portion of the sports complex, site amenities included a playground, a basketball court, soccer fields, a tennis court and two parking lots. The Miracle Fields design called for adding a baseball field and two softball fields, removing and expanding parking lots, relocating a basketball court and providing ADA accessible connections to all areas. As part of a design team, GLW was tasked with stormwater management design and site grading of the various playing, parking, and walking surfaces.

GLW designed the on-site stormwater management using environmental site design (ESD) practices and principles. ESD’s are techniques, structures and practices that minimize stormwater runoff by mimicking natural water cycles processes. By carefully grading the site, keeping in mind the different uses, access points and water flow, nine drainage areas emerged. In each area appropriate ESD best management practices were chosen to treat at minimum one inch of runoff, the average runoff for a typical rain event. The ESD’s included four grass swales, five bio-swales, and several ponds. The swales were gently sloped to convey water away from playing fields and parking lots. The bio-swales contained vegetation, soil media, and riprap to help slow, collext, inflitrate and filter stormwater. ESD calculations helped determine how much water the swales and ponds could hold for average rain events. GLW’s environmental site design solutions aesthetically integrate into the overall design of the park, while providing essential services such as keeping the baseball and softball fields dry for increased playing time, and decreasing wear and tear.