The Middle Branch of the Patapsco River is a place that has seen drastic environmental changes and water quality degradation due to human development. From the mid-18th until the early 20th century, Middle Branch was a center for manufacturing and for water-based recreation. Today, both recreational and industrial tenants on the waterfront have largely abandoned the area.

The legacy of human use of the waterfront has caused major declines in water quality and shallow water habitat. Extensive submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) beds and tidal marshes once provided crucial migratory corridors, spawning grounds, nurseries, and habitat for many species. However, the introduction of pollutants, sediments, shoreline encroachment, and extensive filling of the urban shoreline has depleted this vital habitat, and removed a crucial buffer from severe storms and flooding events.

This project identifies two scales of movement at the Swann Park Site: large scale transport traffic due to the park’s proximity to the highway, and small scale recreational use of circuit training and community sports teams. The module, which uses recycled shipping pallets as a base, is compatible with existing transport equipment, such as cargo trucks and forklifts. Each module contains 4 sub-modules that are small enough to be towed or carried by a single person. These submodules are used to engage recreational users on the site in the rituals of habitat restoration.

The terrestrial module engages the land-side users of Swann Park. Community football teams that play on site are asked to donate one day a year to marsh restoration. These teams are trained on site, and transplant grasses to submodules. These units can be carried to vegetated protection baffles for planting, or placed into the larger modules, which are taken by truck to be planted at local restoration sites. Through these processes, the park becomes a hub for community recreation and involvement, and a productive farm for the establishment of marsh grasses.

Aquatic habitat modules are built on the same recycled pallet bases as terrestrial modules. These modules contain germinated underwater grasses, and are brought to the park habitats by truck. Submodules are inserted into towing floats, and kayakers take these units to restoration areas off site. Underwater habitat corridors are created by these incremental efforts of individuals.

The deployment of terrestrial and SAV habitat modules builds habitat over time. Phasing of the distribution of this community-restored habitat is based on the capabilities of people already using the site. The diagrams shown here assume that each of the 110 football teams that plays on the Swann Park site donate one 8-hour day per year to restoration activities, and 15 kayakers per day tow one SAV submodule during the months of April to October.

Through piggybacking on proposed recreational trails and existing social structures relating to the park, this project proposes to ritualize the creation and maintenance of the near-shore environment. As such, restoration is no longer seen as a technical enterprise undertaken by specialists, but becomes integral to the social and recreational life of area park users.