BATON ROUGE — LSU plans to restore and protect the historic Campus Mounds, built by Indigenous people thousands of years ago.

The two 17-foot-tall earthen mounds sit in the heart of LSU's campus. Early blueprints showed the structures circled to emphasize their significance, and visitors could freely climb on them until the university restricted access in 2010.

LSU landscape architect Dennis Mitchell said years of foot traffic and drought have left the mounds with bare ground and slope slumps. Presentation photos showed noticeable patchiness and erosion.

"This project specifically is going to reskin the mounds, introduce the right type of irrigation system, then ultimately we can manage that in a much better way," said Mitchell

Hayden Hammons of CARBO Landscape Architecture said the work includes a new irrigation system, slope stabilization and turf restoration.

"To stabilize some of the areas of the slopes that are degraded, have experienced some degree of erosion," said Hammons.

Project leaders consulted with Native American students and tribal representatives while developing the designs. Construction is expected to take several months, with contractor bids opening in the coming weeks.

A Save America's Treasures grant from the National Park Service and matching funds from LSU will cover the project's $441,742 price tag.