The University of Illinois is the flagship university of Illinois -- the prairie state. Today, less than 3,000 acres of original prairie remain of the approximate 33 million acres that existed across the state pre-European settlement. This project will introduce the first sizable area of high-quality restored prairie on the main campus, bringing with it a host of educational opportunities and various levels of hands-on service learning for campus and community that will exist well into the future. The conversion from its current state of low-mow lawn filled with aggressive, invasive weed species, will also reduce maintenance inputs while helping to provide habitat for pollinators and other forms of wildlife.The project has direct involvement of the UIUC American Student Landscape Architecture (ASLA)-Student Chapter. These students will gain training and experience with a relatively large native plant prairie seed installation.

They will be joined by Agricultural and Biological Engineering students and Extension volunteers, who will participate with erosion control measures. Further, this project benefits the greater student body by providing a place of well-being and restoration at the only pond on the main campus. Having a prairie on campus represents a paradigm shift in our landscape. Traditional landscape practices such as mown lawns, traditional low-mow sites, chemical applications, etc. must be reconsidered in favor of exemplary sustainable ones. By building a beautiful example of a high-quality prairie restoration at the heart of a campus home to over 50,000 people, this project hopes to inspire both current and future generations to rethink lawns (on campus and in the home landscape).