News alert: SWA Group selected to create LSU lakes master plan

The design team of SWA Group has been selected to create a master plan for the rehabilitation of the LSU lakes, an initiative being spearheaded by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. The team was selected by a committee from among four teams that presented their proposals and credentials earlier today at a public forum, which drew a crowd of more than 100 community leaders and civic activists. SWA Group is working in association with Jeffrey Carbo and Associates, a Louisiana landscape architecture firm known for work that includes Buffalo Bayou Promenade in Houston. Other firms working with the team are: Biohabitats, ETM Associates, Pros Consulting, Sherwood Engineering and Stantec. The team will now negotiate a contract with BRAF, which has raised $750,000 for the master plan and preliminary engineering work, and is expected to begin the year-long planning process in the next few months. —Stephanie Riegel