Firms up for tackling a $400,000 project to create a master plan to preserve and beautify the LSU lakes have about a month to submit their pitch to the Baton Rouge Area Foundation.
BRAF announced Friday the foundation has issued a request for proposals for the project, which will require creation of a “blueprint for enhancing the lakes area with amenities in balance with long-term preservation” of the six-lakes system.
The foundation announced in late March it raised money to pay for the plan. The RFP involves dredging of the lakes as well as planning for the 45 acres surrounding the lakes, including a series of pathways and nearby Interstate 10 gateways.
Answering the request will likely be a mixed team of local and national or international companies, led by landscape architects, who can meet the varied requirements. Planning teams must, the RFP requires, engage residents of East Baton Rouge Parish and gather input for ideas to improve the lakes.
“Plans are instructed to have an open and transparent process…with very important consideration given to community outreach,” a BRAF press release says.
Interested firms have until May 23 to submit proposals. A selection will be made by this summer and the master plan should be completed by summer 2015. Choosing the firm will be representatives from BRAF, which raised private funds to finance the master plan; LSU and the city-parish government, which own the lakes; and BREC, which operates Milford Wampold Memorial Park — formerly known as Baton Rouge beach, as well as some of the land around City Park Lake.
Preservation is necessary because if nothing is done, the lakes will “turn into mud flats and eventually revert to swampland,” which was their original state before most of them were transformed into lakes in the 1930s. Currently, the depth of the lakes is about two and a half feet, which is far too shallow and creates unhealthy conditions that encourage plants to grow, leading to an eventual swampy takeover.
To keep the lakes healthy for the next several decades, the master plan will build on a 2008 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan for dredging the lakes to an average depth of five feet. The Corps also recommends installing tubes to flush out sediment. “The expectation (if the work is completed) is that oxygen levels in the water will be higher after 50 years than they are now,” BRAF says, which would allow for healthier fish habitats. The foundation already employed an international engineering firm to measure the lakes’ depth.
The selected firm will also explore how to use the dredging spoils to potentially provide necessary land to build or shore-up recreational amenities, such as walking paths, so joggers don’t have to share the road with vehicle traffic.
The plan should also make suggestions for designs around the westbound and eastbound exists at Interstate 10 and Dalrymple Drive to include landscaping, signage and noise reduction from I-10.
Finally, the plan must identify funding sources for the project and recommendations for governing and upkeep of the area.
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