Downtown group lists short-term goals

• By CHAD CALDER
• Advocate business writer
• Published: Nov 11, 2009 - Page: 6B

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The Downtown Development District has identified several initiatives from the newly created planning document Plan Baton Rouge Phase II that the DDD believes it can accomplish in the next 12 to 18 months.

With Plan Baton Rouge Phase II at the printers, Jake Holinga, assistant executive director with the DDD, said good short-term projects include:

• Improvements to the pedestrian experience at River Road in front of the Louisiana Art & Science Museum.
• Improving access to the Mississippi River at North Boulevard and Florida Street.
• Extending the levee promenade to Pete Clements’ proposed River Park development near Hollywood Casino.
• A focus on bringing entertainment options to Lafayette Street and a proposed entertainment anchor, such as a jazz club, to the north end of Third Street.
• A shared state parking lot.
• Creating standards to beautify downtown’s surface parking lots.
• Creating a low-interest loan pool for new businesses downtown.

Plan Baton Rouge Phase II was crafted by national consultants, local planners and public officials and input from the public.

The published plan will be available later this month.

In other business, Executive Director Davis Rhorer said the DDD could be a month away from announcing an initiative to create some kind of sculptured attraction to the areas under the interstate, an initiative that has been talked about for several months.