KVCC HEALTHY LIVING CAMPUS

In cooperation with Bronson Healthcare Group and Kalamazoo County Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s (KVCC) vision for this project was to create a campus focused on wellness and food sustainability.

The new campus was developed on 13.3 acres of unused land donated by Bronson Healthcare Group, where KVCC has expanded its curriculum to include training in sustainable food production, distribution, and preparation.

In constructing the KVCC Culinary School, CSM Group had the responsibility of working in collaboration with the City of Kalamazoo, Bronson Healthcare Group, Department of Environmental Quality, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ensure construction impact to the surrounding environment was minimal.

There were many aspects of the existing environment to account for, including surrounding city parks, residential properties, public access/walkways, bus routes, Bronson Hospital (open 24/7), and a river/creek, all of which required safe routes of access and the ability to remain fully functional.

CSM Group utilized proper erosion control measures, separation barriers, tributary curtains, mulch blankets, air, soil, and water monitoring, and a third party environmental consultation to ensure our impact on the environmental footprint surrounding this project site was safe and always monitored.

Great effort and diligence were also taken to ensure all control methods were in place and working appropriately as to not impede the flow and contamination of Portage Creek, a tributary to the Kalamazoo River which ran directly through the construction zone. Part of the project’s scope was to redirect the natural flow of the river to approach from an easterly route using careful excavation tactics and sheet piling. With the river redirected, the ability to form the new route, along with landscape features including new control berms, rock/ retaining walls, natural habitat plantings, and structural construction supports, was accomplished. Once this scope was complete, the waterway was carefully opened with proper flow and the environmental habitat was
restored.