By Victor C Kirk
We all have perhaps lived somewhere else prior to returning home to Monroe or visited a city and internalized what we experienced. Some may have remembered a store, a restaurant, a night out at a remarkable night club or evening venue that upon returning home wished we had it here. We may remember the skyline of the city at night and perhaps how inviting it was. My reflection on what I experienced that I wished I found upon returning to Monroe begins with a wonderful experience in Baton Rouge.
It does not take long for the mystique of Louisiana’s capital city Baton Rouge to have its affect upon you. But in the early 70’s an infectious plan took flight to transform both the downtown, capital complex, and the two historic districts that formed the northern and southern borders. First the Downtown Development District Commission was created. Davis Rhorer was tapped as its’ Director and charged with the development and oversite of a most ambitious plan – transform downtown Baton Rouge by providing it with an “identity”. Being the capital city was not enough. Heretofore its identity was shaped by the presence of the Louisiana Legislature when in session. But after the session, it became a sleepy town with not much to – Baton Rouge, was not an exciting destination, it was just home or where you worked.
The ‘Commission” began its task with the usual community meetings and business surveys focusing on the downtown community’s mix of residents and businesses. But unlike other efforts, Davis Rhorer hatched another plan – visit the places Baton Rouge wanted to emulate. The central focus of its new identity quest was the Mississippi river, so communities having experienced a successful identity transformation with a riverfront were targeted. The list of sites for consideration included, Memphis, Tennessee, Mobile, Alabama, St. Louis, Missouri, Savanna, Georgia, Hilton Head South Carolina, and Gulf Shores Alabama to name a few.
As the commission focused its attention on the attributes of places to emulate, state government – a crucial partner in this identity formation exercise – awakened to the idea of determining how to better serve its constituents of people and business, and decided to conduct an inventory of property leases.
Over time, many efforts were undertaken to bring services closer to the people and make the business of doing business with the state effortless. Diversification of business locations became the outgrowth.
As such, access to services of state government was spread across the entirety of the capital city. Mark Drennan, Commissioner of Administration under Governor Romer, however, had an epiphany – what if we cancelled the multitude of leases, used the funds to build the buildings we required, and consolidated government offices downtown. This idea became The Capital Complex Plan.
With two critical pieces of the identity transformation of downtown Baton Rouge moving simultaneously, the final act was how to pay for the city’s transformation. The solution, a separate property tax placed upon properties only within the jurisdiction of the Downtown Development District.
As such, property owners of property located from the western portion of the banks of the Mississippi river to interstate 110 that traveled thru the eastern edge of the district and properties that were north and south of downtown which were residential and included the Historic Districts of Spanish Town to the north and Beauregard Town, south, where I resided voted overwhelmingly to tax themselves. They bought into the vision. The result is a classic lesson in city planning. Baton Rouge now has a skyline to evoke wonder as you travel from west to east entering the city. The Mississippi river bridge is lit with a host of bulbs that complement the skyline and seems to excite you before you cross the Mississippi. The impression is that you have arrived somewhere important. When you now exit the loop north to downtown Baton Rouge, you want to satisfy your curiosity. Lights and buildings draw you to downtown. As you drive closer toward the Mississippi; for all major streets lead you to downtown, you begin to see “people hoovering about”. Downtown is now a melting pot of hotels, restaurants many of whom with roof top services, state buildings, a city and state library, theaters featuring art, dance, plays and jazz. As you travel north and south within the Downtown Development District along its main street – third street, you hear and smell the sounds of successful city planning. A city’s revival embracing one concept – a new identity based on a diversified planning teams visits to other locations with a river and similar population and economic attributes.
Will the concept take flight under the new administration – only time will tell if city planners are broad in their beliefs or myopic in their vision.
