Lake Louise State Park will soon have a piece of history.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is partnering with the Minnesota Department of Transportation to preserve the historic Trunk Highway 24 bridge by moving it to Mower County.

The bridge, which originally crossed the North Fork of the Crow River in Meeker County, will be moved to Lake Louise, where it will replace a deficient bridge.

The project will improve safety for park and trail users, project organizers said, since the replacement bridge is wider and has a greater load capacity than the existing one.

During construction, the main campground at the park will be closed, as will the horse camping area, the horse trails and a half-mile segment of the Shooting Star State Trail, which runs through the park. The rest of the paved, 14-mile trail will remain open, from LeRoy to the park, and from the park to Taopi and Adams.

Parking is available at the trail heads in the three towns. Also, a grass trails detour through the park is available for hikers bicyclists.

The bridge project is expected to be completed by May 2012.

The DNR will use a combination of bonding and Legacy funds for its share of the cost of installing the bridge.

For updates on the construction, check the visitor alerts on the web pages for Lake Louise State Park here and the Shooting Star State Trail here.