Introductory Notes

Notes on the Structure of the Plan

Notes on the Making of the Plan

Notes on the Strategy of the Plan


Notes on the Structure of the Plan

This plan is organized under headings that reflect the physical reality of the Downtown. These are Districts, Corridors, and Neighborhoods. In addition, there are General Sections that pertain to the Downtown as a whole.

Districts are places that are specialized for one primary use or activity. The Districts are Catfish Town/Baton Rouge Landing District, specialized for visitors, the Old State Capitol, specialized for culture and education and the Central Business District, specialized for entertainment and retail.

Corridors are linear elements connecting destinations effected by the pedestrian traffic between them. The corridors identified in the plan are the Downtown Parks Corridor that provide ac­cess to the Mississippi River, and the Seventh Street Corridor to unify the residential areas Downtown.

Neighborhoods are areas that are primarily residential with small-scale commercial components. The Neighborhoods are Beauregard Town and Spanish Town.

Two preexisting plans are outside of the presentation of Plan Baton Rouge but not beyond its scope: the Corridor created by the Riverfront Parkway Plan and the District designed as the State Capitol Park Master Plan. Both have been integrated with this plan for the synergy that they contribute. There are headings reserved within this document for these plans to be formatted to form a single document to guide the development of the Downtown.

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Notes on the Making of the Plan

This master plan for the Downtown of Baton Rouge arose from a widespread aspiration to improve the heart of the City. The Planning and Development Committee of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation was joined by Forum 35 to develop the initiative to create a new downtown plan based on the principles of New Urbanism. As representatives from throughout the community were added to the committee, the new committee was renamed the New Urbanism Sub Committee. Cordell Haymon, Jona­than Greer, and Linda Clark were instrumental in leading this group.

The planning process was funded by substantial donations from the City of Baton Rouge, the State of Louisiana, and the Baton Rouge Area Foundation.

It was formalized by a Steering Committee that included Mayor Tom Ed McHugh, State Commissioner Mark Drennen, Mr. An­drew Baqué, Mr. Brent Bruser, Mr. Troy Bunch, Councilwoman Lorri Burgess, Ms. Maxine Cormier, Mr. Hans Dekker, Mr. Allen Eskew, Mr. Jonathan Greer, Mr. Cordell Haymon, Representative Raymond Jetson, the Reverend Jennifer Jones, Mr. Jimmy Lyles, Ms. Ellen Miller, Mr. Raymond “Skipper” Post, Ms. Jennifer Eplett Reilly, Mr. Claude Reynaud, Mr. Davis Rhorer, Dr. Press Robinson, Ms. Meg Ross, and Ms. Suzanne Turner.

The Steering Committee retained a team of consultants that included Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company for town planning, Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin Lopez Rinehart, Inc. for trans­portation studies, Gibbs Planning Group for retail studies, Mr. Alexander Garvin for economic implementation and Ms. Ferrill Ann Coates for streetscape design. The logistics of the plan­ning process were organized and coordinated by Ms. Elizabeth “Boo” Thomas and Ms. Marguerite “Meg” Ross.

The consultants were ably assisted by Ms. Alison Lipe, Mr. Jeff Fluhr, Mr. Denny St.Romain, Ms. Mary Olinde, Mr. Donald Broussard, Mr. Deron L. Brown and Mr. Joseph St. Martin of L.S.U. and by the volunteers Ms. Alice Greer, Ms. Gretchen Simm, Ms. Krystal Mathews, Ms. Caroline Alvarez, Ms. Mary Kay Brown, Ms. Gypsye Bryan, Ms. Linda Davies, Ms. Rachel DiResto, Ms. Beth Ferachi, Ms. Janis Gandy, Ms. Liz Gibbens, Ms. Kelly Greer, Ms. Brownie Jeffries, Ms. Gayle Landry, Ms. Carla Meaux, Ms. Susan Rolfs, Ms. Ashley Shelton, and Ms. Jeanie Whitehurst.

The preparation of the plan was a public and participatory pro­cess, which took place from June 26th, to July 2nd, 1998 at the Old State Capitol Building. Special thanks are due to the Old State Capitol leadership and staff: Ms. Mary Louise Prudhomme, Ms. Nancy Chesson, Ms. Janice Newton, Mr. Sailor Jackson, and Mr. Chad Beard. A special word of thanks to Davis Rhorer and his staff at the Downtown Development District, Jeff Fluhr, Denny St. Romain, and Mary Olinde, for providing the excel­lent research and documentation required prior to and during the entire planning process.

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Notes on the Strategy of the Plan

The citizens, in public meeting, identified many needs and desires for the Downtown. The following are representative:

  • Improve the image of Downtown as the common center of the city.
  • Encourage municipal and state regulators to become proactive rather than procedural.
  • Capitalize on work already in progress.
  • Emphasize the identity of individual neighborhoods within the Downtown.
  • Establish the Downtown as a cultural center.· Retain and maintain historical landmarks.
  • Streamline the permitting process for building and renovation.
  • Create an ongoing forum for citizens to discuss and control their destiny.
  • Emphasize the Downtown’s status as the State Capital.
  • Promote Downtown as the place to showcase Baton Rouge to visitors.
  • Expand the areas of historic preservation.
  • Present the Downtown as a focus for civic pride.
  • Create a “sense of place” Downtown.
  • Confirm the city and state alliance in support of Downtown.
  • Celebrate diversity.
  • Promote Downtown as the city’s spiritual, cultural, and economic center.
  • Make use of existing infrastructure.
  • Create a 24-hour city: a place for living, working, shopping and recreating.
  • Take advantage of the Mississippi River.
  • Create a pedestrian experience in contrast to the suburban surroundings.
  • Set an example for planning beyond the Downtown.
  • Promote the economic impact of urban revitalization.
  • Maintain a focus on the needs of Downtown residents.
  • Focus on history and heritage as a marketing theme.
  • Showcase the regional architectural style.

The planning team filtered these needs and desires through the discipline that every recommended public sector action be able to generate a continuous and sustained private sector reaction. While no plan can hope to completely fulfill such an ambitious set of aspirations, the planners submit that the cooperative spirit of the City government, particularly that of Mayor Tom Ed McHugh and his staff, the vision of the State government under Commissioner Mark Drennen, and the sheer energy of the participating citizens suggest that many of these can be reached. The plan presented is a guide for a rare period of opportunity in the history of Baton Rouge. Plan Baton Rouge is intended for gradual implementation, but there is reason to forecast a very quick start, as there are many current projects available for assignment to concentrated locations. Catfish Town/Baton Rouge Landing will soon have a new planetarium, a new hotel and a new convention center. The Old State Capitol District will build on the success of the Old State Capitol renovation, the Auto Hotel renovation and the Heidelberg Hotel renovation. The Central Business District will see the construction of the new Third Street Parking Garage and several live theaters.Also encouraging is the positive result of the Commercial Development Study, and the assessment of the Transportation Planning Study, indicating that simple, inexpensive changes could produce dramatic results. To these positive indications must be added the outpouring of support evidenced during the participatory planning phase. Against the prospect of success, however, must be set the competing needs of the struggling neighborhoods within sight of the Downtown as well as the general lack of urban consciousness of the suburban majority of Baton Rouge.No city can be revitalized immediately in its entirety. The attempt to do so would only disperse whatever human and economic energy is available.1 Within the Downtown, Plan Baton Rouge intends to make improvements by concentrating first on the sectors that are most fertile for development. The success of these as economic, social, and cultural achievements will weave out along a newly refurbished streetscape to complete the healing of the fabric of the Downtown. The policies, techniques, and markets thus created can then transcend the highways that ring the Downtown, bringing their benefits to the neighborhoods beyond. Planning should begin to determine the next area of the community to benefit from the experience and knowledge gained through the Plan Baton Rouge process. A task force should be appointed to develop criteria to select the next area for planning and redevelopment.The recommendations of this Master Plan are not immutable. While this document reflects the best advice of the planning team, it is likely to contain errors and omissions that must be corrected as they are identified. It will also need to be updated over time to reflect the acceptance or rejection by the Planning Commission and the Metro Council, as well as the projects completed and opportunities newly identified. It should also include the Riverfront Development Plan and the State Capitol Park Master Plan in preparation by other consultants.To this end, the entire document has been provided to the Steering Committee in an open disk format. The binding method is also adapted to ongoing changes. In this way, the Master Plan should remain current over the decade of its projected implementation.Modifications to the Plan must be carefully considered, particularly the removal of recommendations. Within each section of the Plan, project recommendations are not listed in order of priority. Some of the recommendations may seem impossible under current circumstances, usually due to an absence of consensus or of resources, they are nevertheless an ideal that should not be eliminated.

1 Currently there are 22,000 state, city, and private company workers in the Downtown every day. An additional 3,000 state workers will be Downtown when the new state office buildings are completed. The Downtown Development District estimates that as many as 100,000 people travel to Downtown each day to do business or to visit. There are approximately 2,000 permanent residents Downtown.

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Consultants

This plan is a complex undertaking involving several consultants. The report, while integrated, was written in sections by the various consultants and the attempt is made to retain the particular character of each. In the event of errors, omissions, or finding the need of further elucidation, each consultant is the contact of first recourse.

Ferrill Ann Coates (for streetscape design) 225.383.1088

Andres Duany (for general planning) 305.644.1023

Alexander Garvin (for implementation) 212.860.8241

Robert Gibbs (for commercial development) 248.642.4800

Walter Kulash (for transportation) 407.843.6552

Jeff Speck (for neighborhood matters) 305.644.1023

Galina Tahchieva (for drawings and coordination) 305.644.1023


Exhibit A: Comparison


Exhibit B: Civic Buildings


Exhibit C: Development


Exhibit D: Frontage