Living Design

Regenerating a Community through a Place to Gather

  • Client

    City of Joplin

  • Project Title

    Joplin Mercy Park

  • Location

    Joplin, MIssouri

  • Size

    17 acres

"“Mercy Park is the final piece of a plan following the 2011 tornado to provide a beautiful location to reflect and remember the lives of those lost, while also providing a place to enjoy the outdoors for generations to come.”"

Gary Pulsipher

President of Mercy Hospital Joplin

a living, breathing thing

Walking trails immerse visitors in the native landscapes of prairie and pond.

Curiosity and learning to fuel it

Educational signage supports further conservation efforts and enriches the visitor experience.

Passion for changing lives gives it purpose

The park provides a tranquil space to reflect and remember the lives of those lost.

Vision guides it towards a goal

Fifty children from across the region created artwork that was scanned onto tiles to create a butterfly mural.

A former hospital destroyed by the 2011 tornado is replaced with a tranquil park with native landscapes and space for people to enjoy.

Project Scale

  • Object

  • Site

  • Community

  • System

  • Region

Temporality

  • On the Books

  • Under Construction

  • Recently Completed

  • Design Study

  • Established

Project Type

  • Parks and Open Space
  • Greenways And Trails
  • Placemaking and Branding

A former hospital destroyed by the 2011 tornado is replaced with a tranquil park with native landscapes and space for people to enjoy.

In May 2011, the City of Joplin was forever changed by an EF-5 tornado. The Mercy St. John’s hospital was at the epicenter of this disaster. With recovery efforts underway, an opportunity arose to develop a portion of the original St. John’s Mercy Hospital site with the vision to heal the city. The establishment of a passive public park expands the green space currently being offered by the adjacent Cunningham Park, and provides a community gateway space with connectors to existing facilities, businesses, and nearby amenities.
SWT Design led the City of Joplin through an extensive CIP planning process, identifying and prioritizing nearly 40 projects worth more than $350 million in CDBG-DR funds. Mercy Park was the first of these identified projects to be further developed and constructed. SWT led the design and construction administration of the park, working with the city and contractors to meet a narrow 10-month construction schedule.

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