The LSU AgCenter’s Burden Center will begin site renovations expected to last up to 15 to 20 years after the center completes a feasibility study on long-term expansion and renewal.
Jeff Kuehny, resident director of the Burden Center, said he hopes the master plan’s renovations and additions will entice more individuals without agricultural backgrounds to visit the Burden Center.
The Burden Center is situated on 440 acres of rare urban forest at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Essen Lane.
The Burden Center’s plentiful flower, fruit and vegetable gardens, Food and Fiber Research Facility and Ornamental and Turf Research Facility are meant to provide opportunities for AgCenter researchers and professors, among others, to conduct their research and to learn more about agronomics and horticulture.
“It is my desire to get the students more involved,” Kuehny said. “They can apply for a job in gardening, volunteer or simply escape campus and enjoy the scenery that is not often found in a city.”
The Trees and Trails system is 3.5 miles but will span more area in the Burden Woods upon completion. A larger boardwalk will also be built over the 200-year-old Black Swamp.
“The trails provide a safe route for runners who want to experience nature while they exercise,” Kuehny said. “Students can use the trails as an alternative to running the lakes, especially when there are reports of assaults and robberies.”
Other new additions to the Burden Center include a botanical garden and a healing garden that will showcase herbs Kuehny said are meant to improve mental, physical and spiritual health.
Kuehny also said he hopes patients at Baton Rouge General and at Our Lady of the Lake hospitals will visit the healing garden once it is completed due to their close proximity.
“Being surrounded by healthy herbs and beautiful flowers and their aromas can improve a patient’s health or, at the very least, their environment,” Kuehny said.
BREC has partnered with the Burden Center in this initiative by proposing the creation of a “medical mile,” a walking trail that will connect the two hospitals to the Burden Center facilities.
Kuehny said the construction of a trail from LSU’s campus to the Burden Center has also been proposed by BREC, but he acknowledged this plan could take years to implement.
Children are also a target audience of the new expansion plan. Children’s gardens are being built specifically for toddlers and young children, and a big tree house will also be constructed for older children.
More conference centers will be built under the new plan to relieve the current Ione Burden Conference Center of its constant full capacities. Kuehny said students will be able to rent these spaces, as well as any current conference or reception rooms, for a reduced rate.
Student art shows are common at the Steele Burden Memorial Orangerie, and LSU students in Terry Patrick-Harris’ musical theater class will perform their Spring Sing event in the Windrush Gardens on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
Kuehny said he hopes these future innovations at the Burden Center will encourage students to make use of its features for both their research and personal needs.
“With the stress of finals approaching, I know I would have liked to have had a refuge like this when I was at school,” Kuehny said.
The LSU Burden Center is free and open to the public every day from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
 
 
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Contact Lea Ciskowski at [email protected]