BU SI N E S S
FREDERICK’S INNOVATIVE
CARROLL CREEK PARK
FINALLY COMPLETE
BY MICHELLE KERSHNER, CITY OF FREDERICK
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Running like a ribbon through Downtown
Frederick, Carroll Creek Park is dotted with
fountains, storefronts and pubic art. People
gather creekside for festivals, concerts and
outdoor dining, but there’s more than meets
the eye to this vibrant urban park.
Throughout history, Carroll Creek routinely
overflowed its banks leaving a path of
destruction in its wake. In 1972 and 1976,
floodwaters from Carroll Creek decimated
blocks of Downtown Frederick. As a child,
Joe Adkins, now deputy director of planning
for the City of Frederick, remembers riding
his bike to the Square Corner in the aftermath
of Hurricane Agnes in 1972. As Adkins
looked at the flooded streets, he remembers
thinking, “This is just devastating.”
The floods marked the decline of Downtown
Frederick. In the face of this devastation, a
creative plan emerged to build a flood control
project that also served as an urban park,
shared-use path, community amenity and
economic development engine. The Carroll
Creek Park project was born.
“Approximately $60 million was initially
invested between the city, county, and
State of Maryland to develop the 1.3mile flood control project,” said Richard
Griffin, director of economic development
for the City of Frederick. Over the years,
aboveground portions of the project were
completed as well.
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FREDERICK COUNTY GUIDE | SUMMER 2016
Six administrations and nearly four
decades later, Frederick celebrated the
completion of the final phase of public
improvements along Carroll Creek Park
on May 19, 2016. Hundreds gathered
along the new section of park in front
of Union Knitting Mills for the park’s
grand opening. All mayors that carried
the project forward were honored, and
the crowd watched the inaugural burst of
water from the newest water feature, Mill
Pond Fountain.
Carroll Creek Park brings an innovative
solution to downtown’s flooding problem.
“In Frederick, an engineering marvel runs
beneath the city, carrying floodwaters away
from the vibrant downtown area, while
people are walking above it in a beautiful
park setting,” said Tracy Coleman, deputy
director of engineering for the City of
Frederick. On the surface, the creek flows
through an idyllic and peaceful man-made
channel. Four large conduits, each large
enough for a dump truck to drive though,
run below the city and carry the majority
of the creek’s water when it floods.
Aboveground, a world-class urban park has
emerged. The linear nature of the park serves
as a transportation network, connecting the
east and west sides of the city.
“Carroll Creek Park means people in motion
without motors,” said city transportation
planner Tim Davis. With the completion of
the new shared-use path connection under
U.S. Route 15 in the summer of 2016,
pedestrians and cyclists will be able to travel
from Carroll Creek Park at East Patrick
Street to the end of the Golden Mile near
the former Fredericktowne Mall site.
Throughout the summer, visitors flock
along the creek just east of South Market
Street. Here, a water garden that is about
six times the size of Monet’s famous
water garden in Giverny, France, attracts
thousands with its colorful blooms. Much
like the story of Carroll Creek Park, it,
too, is a story of overcoming adversity.
The main aboveground channel of
the creek has a slow water flow. This,
combined with full sun and excessive
nutrients from upstream, created a perfect
storm. Unsightly algae took over the
creek in the heat of the summer. Local
resident and water garden enthusiast Dr.
Peter Kremers proposed an innovative
solution: an urban water garden. Color
on the Creek is a community-led project
that works in cooperation with the city to
plant and maintain a water garden in the
creek’s main channel to solve the algae
problem. Today, it serves as an attraction
for residents and visitors alike.
The $15.8 million completion of public
improvements along Carroll Creek Park’s
new section marks a major milestone for