Rehabilitation of the 30-acre natural area designed by Jensen as a part of the Riverdale estate was begun as part of the restoration of a larger 45-acre wetland/forest area known as the Marian University EcoLab. Although the area has been utilized by professors and students sporadically throughout Marian’s history, a comprehensive rehabilitation of the site was initiated in 2000. Led by Dr. David Benson, Assistant Professor of Biology and Director of the EcoLab, the work commenced during the Spring 2000 semester when he encouraged his conservation biology class to design, gain funding for, and implement a restoration ecology project in the pond and wetland areas. The rehabilitation effort culminated with more than 120 grade school students working with the institution's president and members of his cabinet in the wetlands to protect our natural Indiana heritage. The workday was covered by the local media and was attended by Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson.

Since this auspicious beginning, much work has taken place. Honeysuckle, oriental bittersweet, and buckthorn were removed from 14 acres of the Jensen-designed area (honeysuckle covered approximately 85 percent of the understory canopy before removal). Ten dumpsters full of debris were hauled out and more than 4,000 cubic yards of fill was excavated to approximate the location of about 3/4 miles of trails original to the Jensen design. The official public opening of the Ecolab was held on November 4, 2002.

Several community partners have provided funding for this restoration work. The Amos W. Butler chapter of the National Audubon Society provided an initial grant of $25,000 toward habitat enhancement, removal of exotic species, planting of native woodland grasses and a ½-acre prairie restoration, and has continued to support the EcoLab with volunteers and financial contributions from its annual Birdathon.

The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust provided $250,000 to restore the original trails through the area, and in 2004 provided an additional $125,000 to support an Environmental Education and Volunteer Coordinator for the EcoLab. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has continued to fund habitat restoration with two grants totaling more than $300,000 for exotic species removal and native species replanting.

The restoration of the historic landscape, including the formal garden, also began in 2000. Funded by a U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Historic Preservation Fund grant administered by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Divisions of Historic Preservation and Archeology, Marian College, now Marian University, hired David Roth, ASLA to prepare a Cultural Landscape Report documenting the history and significance of the Jensen landscape at Riverdale. The Report, completed in 2003, serves as the basis for the institution's current efforts to raise funds for the restoration of the landscape.

Funded by a generous grant from the Efroymson Fund of the Central Indiana Community Foundation, a portion of the original roof of the Allison Mansion was restored in 2005. Some interior improvements have been made, too. Most notably, the floors were refinished to reveal their original teak wood. Recently, the original light fixture in the porte-cochere was stripped of decades of corrosion to show off its deep bronze finish.