Downtown Baton Rouge - DPZ

Key Facts

1998
Designed
500 ac.
Project Size
Baton Rouge Area Foundation
Client

About Downtown Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge is a successful example of public-sector commitment to place-making. State and local government played a leading role in revitalizing Louisiana’s capital city. In the experience of DPZ, never has a historic city in such bad condition been so quickly and thoroughly brought back to life. A public process with a charrette set out goals and methods for re-development. The plan reinforced projects already underway as focal points (the planetarium and the convention center) and proposed the new public amenities of library, art museum, and riverfront park. Among the most important achievements was Capitol Park, featuring the restoration of the state capitol building. Other projects that became a reality included an arts center, a high-end hotel, an entertainment district with several new theaters, hundreds of residential units, and the construction of a new parking garage.

Within a decade, over a hundred projects identified by the master plan were implemented with the unwavering perseverance by a sequence of mayors, citizen committees, local architects Skipper Post and Allen Eskew, and Boo Thomas who, at the helm of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, championed and coordinated the multiple efforts.

Development Approach

Reinforce downtown as a hub: as a cultural, spiritual, and economic center.
History revered: preserve historic and regional character of the city as a state capital and showcase for visitors.
Enhance existing assets: make most of existing infrastructure and underutilized features—especially the underutilized connection to the Mississippi River.
Diversify uses & usability: become a 24-hour, pedestrian-friendly city.
Smart financing: every recommendation had to make financial sense for private sector or have a dedicated source of public-sector funding.
Catalytic proposals: every public sector recommendation had to generate continuous and sustained private sector reactions.

Defining Design Details

By 10th year of implementation: all 104 projects identified in master plan had started, with over 80% of the projects complete, garnering more than $1.5 billion in investment.
By 20th year: planned efforts 90% finished with $300 million in additional projects in progress.
Consolidation of state government offices as part of the Capitol Park Plan: 14 new buildings constructed adding more than 3,500 new employees into district.