Worcester's Green Infrastructure

Morgan Landing

There are two small Focal Point Rain Gardens at Morgan Landing. The gardens have drains to collet runoff from the sidewalk and street nearby. You can see the drains on the nearby sidewalks, helping you identify these two rain gardens.

Senior Center - Rain Garden

In 2020, the city installed a new rain garden at the Worcester Senior Center.

The rain garden in the Senior Center's parking lot is specifically engineered to capture and retain water, gradually allowing it to seep into the soil. By doing so, it effectively decreases stormwater runoff, thus minimizing the risk of overwhelming Worcester's stormwater system.

Blackstone Heritage Corridor Visitor Center - Rain Garden

In 2017, the Blackstone Heritage Corridor Visitor Center installed a 1,200 square foot rain garden outside its premises. This rain garden serves to reduce stormwater runoff originating from the center's parking lot.

Broad Meadow Brook - Rain Garden

In the Spring and Summer of 2016, Mass Audubon installed three rain gardens encompassing approximately 4,900 square feet around their education center at Broadmeadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary. These rain gardens are connected in a cascading fashion, absorbing and filtering water runoff from the impervious surfaces of the upper parking, then the building’s roof, and then the driveway and lower parking.

Worcester Youth Center - Rain Garden

The Worcester Youth Center planted a rain garden outside of their building in the summer of 2011. The rain garden is approximately 1,000 square feet and helps combat flooding in the center's parking lot.

Clark University - Rain Garden

In 2011, Clark University planted the city's third rain garden. The 400 square foot rain garden included native plants and was designed to educate homeowners and students on how to reduce local pollution due to stormwater runoff. The rain garden captures runoff from nearby roofs and creates a space for the water to be retained and slowly infiltrate back into the ground.

Universalist Church of Worcester - Rain and Pollinator Garden

In Spring of 2021, the Universalist Church's Garden-on team planted a pollinator garden. The garden is roughly 3,500 square feet and was awarded Best Sustainable Public Green Space from the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill’s 2022 Community Greening Awards. The rain garden includes many native pollinator plants, creating a home for the city's various pollinator species.