The LSU Hilltop Arboretum, which provides a place for professor retreats, marriage ceremonies and classes to many University students, is adding an additional building to its grounds.
The ribbon cutting and open house for the arboretum’s new Imogene Newsom Brown Education Facility and Brent Turner Courtyard will be the last piece of its 1999 building plan.
Ted Flato, one of the architects of the new building from the Lake Flato Architects of San Antonio, Texas, along with William L. “Bill” Jenkins, former LSU president, will attend the ribbon cutting, open house and ground breaking ceremony, which will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday.
After 13 years of fundraising, amounting to $1.28 million, this will be the first University building to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified. LEED requires four aspects: water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and environmental quality, according to Peggy Davis Coates, Director of LSU Hilltop Arboretum.
The arboretum is no stranger to charity. It was donated to the University’s Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture in 1981, and the money for the new building was raised by the Friends of Hilltop Arboretum through private donations.
Students majoring in landscape architecture, forestry, horticulture and entomology use this setting as a classroom. They learn about plant designs and the environment they need to grow, renewable resources and how to search for certain bugs.
The arboretum consists of 14 acres and more than 150 species of plants native to Louisiana, some of which are for sale.
Not only does the arboretum provide a location for learning, but it has also been a place for retreats and weddings.
University departments, such as the English department, have taken day retreats to the arboretum, and even some University students get married there.
Coates said that the mixture of “peace and nature” is what makes the arboretum special and a great place to come and get away.
When the building is opened, it will host educational and fundraising events and will be available for the public and for students to relax and clear their minds or study, Coates said.
University staff that helped bring the project into construction consists of LSU Facility Development former Director Emmett David and new Director Roger Husser along with LSU Campus Sustainability Denise Newell and Jerry Landry, former Chancellor Mike Martin, LSU Foundation staff CFO Gina Dugas and Attorney David Hardy.

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Grace Steinhauser

LSU Hilltop Aboretum will be having a ribbon cutting and open house on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013, at 11855 Highland Road.