IMEG’s civil team was instrumental in repurposing an abandoned industrial building along the Rock River in Rockford into the UW Health Sports Factory, a highly complex project that was a component of the multi-stakeholder “Reclaiming First Initiative” promoting sports tourism in the Greater Rockford Area.

As part of the design team, IMEG participated in regularly scheduled master planning meetings and played a key part in developing the design concepts and construction plans for the proposed development. Once the concepts were in place, IMEG provided civil site design, structural engineering, and construction layout. Key aspects of the scope of work included:

• Designing a complex, reinforced-concrete stairway structure and attaching it to an existing concrete tunnel under a railroad to allow safe pedestrian access from the upper parking lot to the re-purposed building
• Incorporating a concrete river walk with decorative railings next to the building to allow users of the facility to enjoy the scenic Rock River from several outlook areas
• Designing parking facilities on the lower site (adjacent to the building) and the upper site (on property acquired by the City from the existing owners)

IMEG also worked closely with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to identify the limits of the 100-year floodway that encroached within the footprint of the building and determine the 100-year Base Flood Elevation (BFE). Additional structural fill was imported into the building to create a new finished floor elevation that is 2 feet above the BFE, thereby removing the newly renovated building from the floodway.