Engineering Inc. - March/April 2008 - 25

MULTI-PROJECT FEATURE The Sporting Life Steve Arnold PROJECT: Legacy Development Subdivision, Eagle, Idaho FIRM: Stanley Consultants, Inc., Boise, Idaho Scott Wonders R ead the names associated with the Legacy Development Subdivision, the massive 700-acre land development project under way in Eagle, Idaho, and it sounds like a who’s who in American sports history. Names such as Courier, Nicklaus, Hamm and Spitz headline the project, which aims to combine residential living with world-class athletics and instruction. As part of the project, a vast swath of Idaho farmland has been converted to make room for a complex featuring upscale housing and state-of-the-art sports instruction academies. Jack Nicklaus plans to open one of his signature academies of golf; Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain and Julie Foudy, three former members of the U.S. women’s soccer team, Designed for people who live active lives, the subdivision includes plans for 1,500 homes and several sports instruction facilities. plan to open an academy of soccer. Tennis star Jim Courier and Olympic gold medalist Mark Spitz also plan to open instructional facilities as part of the project. Residents living in the development will pay a monthly fee to access the facilities and for group instruction. The first phase of the project consisted of 225 acres and 340 home sites and was completed at the end of 2007. The full plan includes more than 1,500 homes, retail and commercial space, elementary school sites and more than 30 acres of ponds. Phase II of the project won’t begin until summer. Before development began, the entire site was farmland. “The goal was to take idle land and turn it into a thriving community that would be integrated into the natural topography,” says Steve Arnold, project principal for Stanley Consultants, the Iowa-based design firm that heads the project. Stanley began by annexing the land and rezoning it into the City of Eagle. “Our responsibilities encompassed the entire development process from the initial topographic mapping and boundary surveys to the final engineered plans for streets, sewer, water, gravity irrigation and site grading,” explains Scott Wonders, vice president and manager of Stanley Consultants’ office in Boise, Idaho. The company faced obstacles from the start. There was a lack of existing utility infrastructure near the site, which required the extension of nearly a mile of oversized sewer main. Even running water was a problem. The Legacy Development project was the first major construction project to test the city’s revamped water system. “This was to be the first water system owned and operated by the City of Eagle and required a great deal of coordination to implement,” explains Arnold. Success required that the company work with the Department of Environmental Quality and with the city officials to plot the location of water mains and make allowances for future connectivity. Project organizers say the design complements the natural landscape and should ensure the development’s sustainability for years to come. ENGINEERING INC. MARCh / APRIL 2008 25

Engineering Inc. - March/April 2008

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