Salem, NH – The American Council of Engineering Companies of New Hampshire (ACEC-NH) named Tuscan Village, a sustainable mixed-use development, a recipient of a Gold Engineering Excellence Award. The award celebrates innovative solutions and excellence in engineering consulting for projects across the state.
Tuscan Lake with the surrounding beach and dock for people to use for kayaking and other recreational activities.
Tuscan Village, located in Salem, is being developed on the site of the former Rockingham Park racetrack. The 170-acre property is designed to be a thoughtful community that balances the three responsibilities of sustainability: social, environmental, and economic benefits. The ACEC-NH award recognizes Tighe & Bond’s work on the Floodplain Improvement Phase of the project, addressing environmental, stormwater, and floodplain accommodation needs across the entire property.
An existing irrigation pond was reimagined into the 2.5-acre Tuscan Lake with adjacent programmable greenspace (Lake Park). A series of underperforming culverts were daylighted to restore 3,000 linear feet of a brook running through the property (formerly culverted for the development of the racetrack), which reshaped the floodplain to help alleviate flooding concerns during large storm events and created a robust habitat for aquatic and terrestrial species. Rain gardens were strategically placed throughout the property to continue with the aid of controlled stormwater runoff.
Native plantings chosen for the rain gardens along Tuscan Lake, Tuscan Boulevard, Policy Brook, and other areas of the site address stormwater runoff and provide infiltration of stormwater to recharge the groundwater.
Representatives of Tighe & Bond say the town of Salem will see economic benefits, such as a re-established tax base and an increase in permanent jobs, as subsequent project phases are implemented.
“The work done by Tighe & Bond and other collaborators has exceeded our expectations and is an outstanding example of innovation, and commitment to the environment, social issues, and economic need of the town of Salem,” said Joe Faro, managing member of Tuscan Village Master Development, LLC.
