The largest park in the city of Royal Oak, Normandy Oaks, is now officially open to the public. The parks and recreation project, led by the Nowak & Fraus Engineers (NFE) Design Team, helped bring more green space to the community. NFE transformed the former Normandy Oaks Golf Course, located off Delemere Boulevard between Nakota and Normandy, into a 40-acre multi-purpose park.
Following an initial request for proposal (RFP) in 2018, the NFE team was selected by the City of Royal Oak and the Department of Public Works (D.P.W). Despite the challenges of a historically wet spring in 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, NFE worked with the city and the contractor team to see the park successfully completed by the second quarter of 2021. The Park made its grand debut on July 10 to hundreds of Royal Oak residents and has been a popular family setting throughout the remainder of the summer and fall.
The design team prioritized the reuse of as many preexisting features and natural elements as possible. As such, in order to accomplish this, NFE worked with Landscape Architects & Planners, Inc. to orchestrate an extensive community engagement process with city officials and residents. Central to NFE’s vision for Normandy Oaks Park was to honor the community’s wishes. This included a design charrette, an opinion survey, six public meetings, and numerous teleconferences with the residents of Royal Oak. Approximately 2,500 city residents and interested parties participated in the overall park development planning and design process.
Utilizing the comments and feedback from the many participants in the master planning charettes, the NFE Team developed multiple concepts for Normandy Oaks Park, while working with city officials to reach the final design layout.
One of the most notable aspects of this project was its dedication to incorporating sustainable stormwater management solutions. The Southeast Michigan Resilience Fund, managed by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, awarded the city of Royal Oak a $228,000 grant to go towards sustainable enhancements within the park. The project utilized this funding to build a green stormwater infrastructure, including bioswales planted with native species that capture stormwater runoff from the parking lot. The water is then routed to an open pond for further stormwater quality and pre-treatment, before finally discharging into an existing detention facility. Stormwater from the site cascades through four separate stormwater management facilities providing superior stormwater quality as it is discharged off site.
Now complete, Normandy Oaks Park offers a large selection of amenities, including:
- Two natural turf soccer fields with full irrigation
- Open air pavilion with restrooms
- Paved parking area
- New playground with safe synthetic turf for fall protection
- Sledding hill constructed from excess earthen spoils from the project
- Splash pad
- A nature area restored as a historical savannah prairie
- Paved multi use trails and ADA compliant aggregate trails
- Pedestrian bridge connecting Normandy Oaks Park to adjacent Elks Park
The successful completion of Normandy Oaks Park is a gratifying win for NFE’s parks and recreation development team. NFE is thankful and proud to partner with the City of Royal Oak on this important project for the residents of Royal Oak.