The City of Stillwater, Minnesota was established on the banks of the St. Croix River in 1843 and is considered the birthplace of Minnesota. More than 65 years later, in 1911, Lowell Park was established in the city along the river. Due to a history of floods in the historic City, the US Army Corps of Engineers (St. Paul District) hired SEH to perform design, prepare planning and construction documents, and assist with construction engineering services to help protect the City from frequent flooding from the St. Croix River. SEH was tasked to develop a plan to protect the historic park and downtown business district of the City of Stillwater.

The project was broken into multiple phases due to funding limitations. Stage 1 involved the repair and reconstruction of the 1,000 long existing historic double retaining wall system. Stage 2 involved extending the retaining wall system approximately 900 feet north of the existing wall. This stage also included storm sewer piping, pumping manholes, and 3 gated water control structures for interior drainage. Due to soft subsurface soil conditions, prior to starting construction of Stage 2, a surcharge of the construction area was completed to improve the soil conditions. Stage 3 is currently in the final design stage and includes a floodwall, seepage control system, portable pumping facilities, a gated water control structure, and reconstruction of 4 bituminous parking lots.