University Lake’s master plan will determine its governance, the future of City-Brooks Park Golf Course and more

It takes continued imagination and patience, but the vision for an improved University Lakes corridor is finally coming into focus. The much-anticipated project is inching toward completion at the end of this year. Meanwhile, a separate BREC master plan, now underway, will spell out who will govern and maintain the refurbished lakes, while also determining the future of its bookend recreational amenities, Wampold Park and City-Brooks Park.

Dredging will conclude by late fall

Now three years in, dredging has become a familiar sight for Baton Rougeans who frequent the lakes. All that mud moving and stump removal hasn’t been fun to look at, but deepening the six-lake system to between 6 and 9 feet and removing its numerous cypress stumps and excess spoils (sediment, organic matter and debris) was essential to improving water quality, officials have said. Dredging is finished in both City Park Lake and its adjacent Lake Erie, where the water is visibly healthier, says CSRS principal and project lead Mark Goodson.

Dredging continues in University Lake and will conclude by the end of October, Goodson says. Because hauling off the spoils would have been cost prohibitive, the project has required redistributing 1.1 million cubic feet of dredge material to the Bird Sanctuary, in five new islands across the two largest lakes, and through expanded shorelines.

New land and landscaping

City Park Lake’s now-finished shorelines and new islands have been landscaped with iris, goldenrod, grasses and other native, low-growing perennials, Goodson says. Some of those shorelines currently appear dormant but will fill in and bloom throughout the spring, he adds.

A similar strategy is being deployed throughout University Lake. The new shorelines, islands and expanded acreage in the Bird Sanctuary will soon host the same native plants seen around City Park Lake. Goodson notes the invasive black willow recently visible in those dormant locations will be removed.

“We’re committed to keeping [the plants] native and low-lying, so [they] won’t impact people’s views of the lake,” Goodson says.

One of the more noticeable changes on University Lake is the enlarged shoreline in front of the Lod Cook Alumni Center. Goodson says that the area will become a grassy expanse for events and recreation.

May Street bridge completed by the end of the year

Also underway is the realignment of May Street, where the road is now being converted into a bridge spanning the lakes. The bodies of water will be connected by a new channel. The bridge will have a 5½-foot clearance, allowing users to paddle kayaks, canoes and paddleboards under it as they explore both lakes, Goodson says. The project recently saw a slight delay due to a geotechnical issue but is back on track. Goodson says he’s hopeful May Street will be reopened by the end of this year.

Who will maintain the lakes?

A prevailing challenge with the lakes has been the fractured governance, split among LSU, the City-Parish and BREC. Determining who will govern and maintain the system following its $80 million overhaul is key to its long-term success, says BREC interim superintendent Janet Simmons. It could even be a nonprofit conservancy. That issue will be clarified later this year with BREC’s City-Brooks Park & Lakes Vision Planning Process, which piggybacks on the lakes project’s progress. One of the reasons it’s important to identify governance now, Simmons says, is that the restoration project is introducing new physical areas that will need to be maintained or programmed.

The plan also addresses the future of both Wampold Park and City-Brooks Park, the two recreational areas that flank the lakes. Dredge materials will almost double the land mass of Wampold Park, says BREC assistant director of planning and engineering Angela Harms. “It could be something like beach volleyball or more of an accentuated beach, or a place to store boats,” she says. The public will have a chance to weigh in through community meetings this spring.

A new look for City-Brooks Park

Finally, the plan will redesign City-Brooks Park as part of BREC’s ongoing Imagine Your Parks 3 plan. The park was established as a multi-use community park nearly 20 years ago, and it’s time for an update, Simmons says.

Moreover, the park has been identified as a possible site of a so-called Tier 1 recreational facility, a BREC designation that refers to a complex with an air-conditioned gym with a mezzanine track and a community center. Such facilities will help absorb the recreational needs of residents who will be impacted by future closures of BREC’s dated, un-air-conditioned facilities, Simmons says. Those new amenities could be situated on Eddie Robinson Drive near BREC’s Brooks Park public pool, which will likely be updated.

On the City Park side, planners will look at improving current usage, including the nine-hole golf course. While some community activists have long suggested turning the golf course into passive greenspace, there’s a strong argument to maintain it, Simmons says. Golf usage rates have shot up since the pandemic, and the City Park Golf Course generates revenue. It also fills a local public golf course void. There are currently only five public golf courses in East Baton Rouge Parish, and two of those are nine-hole courses.

“City Park had more golfers on it this past year than it ever has. It’s booked constantly,” Simmons says. “Revenue generated from the golf course exceeded expenses by 10%. If we lose it, we’re going to need another nine-hole course somewhere.”