Seventh Street Corridor
This trajectory emerged out of a request by the residents of Spanish Town and Beauregard Town to create a connection between their two neighborhoods, one that would enhance and secure their presence in the Downtown as well as provide useful goods and services for residents. Napoleon and Seventh Street were selected as the only ones that connect the hearts of both communities. The trajectory would start within Beauregard Town with the restoration of Royal Square (on Government Street), and move along Napoleon Street, which in this sector is in excellent condition. Crossing from North Boulevard to Seventh Street, a series of interventions are necessary to mask the existing parking lots. It is necessary to create a square on Convention Street to rectify the slight misalignment of the two streets. Then a retail core must be developed that is essential to both neighborhoods at the corner of Main, anchored by the adjacent East [Galvez] state parking garage. This trajectory would cross Spanish Town and terminate with a new park to be managed by BREC.
The two residential neighborhoods within the Downtown have no common center.
Several options were explored to connect Spanish Town and Beauregard Town. Those along the highway were too unpleasant to walk along. Sixth Street was blocked by the new fire station at Beauregard Town, and is too far to the west from the heart of Spanish Town. The best connection is the combination of Napoleon and Seventh Streets. These are virtually the same street, but not exactly aligned. The disjunction provides the opportunity to create a square at the approximate center of this trajectory.
This trajectory described from south to north begins with Napoleon at its inception at the police station. It passes Royal Square of Beauregard Town along its edge, the middle being cut off by the aforementioned fire station. Napoleon, although off-center with the square, is nevertheless the effective centroid of this neighborhood. (The reclamation of Royal Square is discussed in The Beauregard Town Neighborhood.) Napoleon Street has good spatial definition on both sides, except for the potentially destructive condition of the large unbuilt plot on the corner of America and Napoleon. This site, subject to current zoning laws, could be badly overdeveloped. After crossing North Boulevard, the trajectory becomes ill-defined spatially, because of parking lots on both sides. These require liner buildings. Napoleon then terminates at the unused Postal Credit Union building. This property should be purchased by condemnation, the building demolished and its site converted to a square that neatly shifts the northward trajectory onto Seventh Street. Liner buildings must be erected on all sides of the square. Fortunately, the layout of the surrounding parking lots are perfectly aligned for liner buildings with minimal disruption. Beyond the square, Seventh Street is again effectively defined spatially except that the two small parking lots near Laurel should be provided with streetwalls for they are too small for liner buildings.7 The intersection on Main Street is virtually intact on three corners. The buildings on the south side should be merchandized to provide the necessary neighborhood retail for both neighborhoods. At North Street, another liner building is required on the southeast corner. Further north, Seventh Street again acquires good spatial definition provided by the existing houses. Seventh Street should terminate at the Capitol Park pavilion to signal the existence of this wonderful park, currently under utilized. 7Note that the axis of Seventh Street looking back to the south, aligns perfectly with the rear entrance of the First Presbyterian Church.
[Three hundred trees were planted in October 2000 on the Seventh Street Corridor in honor of the late Charles P. Manship whose boyhood home was on the corner of Florida Street and Seventh Street. Baton Rouge Green installed the plantings that will provide shade and color during the four seasons. The City of Baton Rouge and the Department of Public Works removed concrete and prepared the beds for the tree plantings which were designed by the Louisiana Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. The project won an award in 2001 from The Louisiana Urban Forestry Council for promoting urban forestry in Baton Rouge with “The Capital City Enhancement Masterplan.”]