BREC

[cajun]

Twelve to fifteen exhibits sure is small.

I have great respect for BREC. People can criticize Baton Rouge for many things.....but the parks are amazing for this town, and they are constantly getting better.

I feel like this is a tiny museum, but BREC usually does a great job. Have faith. Not like we are asking the Police department or public schools to try something innovative. Fire department and BREC are pretty solid.

[Antrell Williams]

I have great respect for BREC. People can criticize Baton Rouge for many things.....but the parks are amazing for this town, and they are constantly getting better.

I feel like this is a tiny museum, but BREC usually does a great job. Have faith. Not like we are asking the Police department or public schools to try something innovative. Fire department and BREC are pretty solid.

I'm not complaining. With architecture they can make a more intense exhibit.

[richyb83]

Yeah BREC has taken it to another level!

The $5 million Team Automotive Group Sports Complex is going up at BREC's Perkins Road Community Park, 7122 Perkins Road. When complete, it will be the largest indoor basketball facility in the parish and the largest indoor volleyball facility in the state, with three tournament-play basketball courts, six youth basketball courts, 12 basketball half-courts and five volleyball courts. The general contractor is Woodrow Wilson Construction Company, and the architect is Jerry M. Campbell & Associates.

http://www.businessreport.com/section/businessreport0113

[itsjustme3]

I drove by it today. It looks like a barn. Lame.

[Antrell Williams]

^ Ditto.

[richyb83]

BREC in final stages of work on parks, moving to trails next

Nine parks have been upgraded or have improvements under way: Perkins, Forest, City, Greenwood, Howell, Independence, Highland, as well as a new park in both Central and Zachary. "What we're trying to do is, no matter where you are in the parish, you're pretty close to one of these parks," Jack says.

The Capital Area Pathways Project, which when completed will be a 7.4-mile loop, is also part of Imagine Your Parks. Jack says BREC hopes to have a groundbreaking in early December on the concrete trail at its first phase, a 2.2-mile section that runs from the Mall of Louisiana to Picardy Bridge, near Dick's Sporting Goods, and then from the bridge to Siegen Lane. In August the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation contributed $1 million to the trail system. Jack says it the system could be named the Medical Loop, as trails would eventually connect to Essen Lane, the Perkins park, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, LSU Rural Life Museum and Perkins Rowe.

http://www.businessreport.com/section/daily-reportAM

[richyb83]

Children's Museum planned on top a hill overlooking City Park

http://theadvocate.c...-planned-for-br

Edited November 22, 2012 by richyb83

[dan326]

Neat, I didn't really think it'd get this far but I'm glad it's moving along. :-)

[Antrell Williams]

I thought we'd never hear about this again to be honest.

[steve3n8]

Capital Area Pathways Project to begin construction in January

With the completion of a 7.4-mile pathway loop for walking and biking in Baton Rouge, the city could take a step toward one of the visions laid out at the recent 2012 Smart Growth Summit and another step away from the fossilized, car-centric mindset it has clung to for decades. This morning BREC unveiled the first 2.2-mile section of the loop—called the Capital Area Pathways Project—behind the Mall of Louisiana, which will break ground in January and could be completed as early as next summer. It begins at Siegen Lane, near St. George Catholic Church and School, and passes near Richard Carmouche's urban mixed-use development, The Grove, as it ties in with Wards Creek and runs to Bluebonnet Boulevard. "Exactly how it will grow, I don't know," says Ted Jack, an assistant superintendent at BREC. It won't be until 2014 that BREC will consider allocating some of its strategic funding for another leg—or legs—of the pathway. "We'll keep partnering with people to get it done," says Jack, noting the considerable donations to the first leg made by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation, Carmouche, the Mall of Louisiana and many others. —Adam Pearson Read the full story here.

Businessreport.com

[cajun]

Glad that museum is coming. The design looks like the illegitimate child of a Ikea store and a barn, unfortunately.

[richyb83]

[woodgreen]

If you are so inclined please go to change.org and sign this petition.

 

 

East Baton Rouge BREC Board and Superintendent Carolyn McKnight : Convert City Park's 9-hole golf course into a 100+ acre PARK ON THE LAKE.

[richyb83]

Welcome Woodgreen! Was just about to post this...what's the best use for City Park....a Central-park-style park...with plenty of open green space or the historic 9-hole golf course that I hear is losing $$money...this should be interesting to watch unfold!

 

Here is the article in today's Advocate

 

http://theadvocate.com/home/5914221-125/future-of-brecs-city-park

[Antrell Williams]

I say close it. Majority of opponents are golfers themselves.

[woodgreen]

If you draw concentric circles coming out from the center of city park,  how many golfers live a  5 minute, 10 minute, or 15 minute, etc. walk away from the park versus how many residential citizens. It is obvious that more people would benefit from an expanded park. 

[richyb83]

True Woodgreen...and another golf course at Webb Park  is just down the road!

[itsjustme3]

There's nothing wrong with it now

[pm_arch]

I found a very interesting article regarding the re-thinking of under-utilized public golf courses which could help spur discussion of the golf course at City Park.  You can read the full article here:  http://cityparksblog.org/2012/07/23/fairways-under-fire-are-little-used-public-golf-courses-worth-the-space/

 

Here are some interesting passages:

 

“Continuing to invest in golf courses that are not financially self-sustaining at the cost of other urban recreation is completely unjustifiable.... parks are expected to serve multiple demands in small spaces.  Golf courses, in contrast," says Thomas, are “pretty much the definition of sprawl as far as parkland goes,” especially since “other forms of recreation like field sports and off-leash dog areas are bursting at the seams.”  - quote from Meredith Thomas, the director of San Francisco’s Neighborhood Parks Council.

 

And something a little closer to home:

 

City Park in New Orleans formerly held an astonishing four 18-hole golf courses covering 520 acres. But there came a time when “the economics did not justify that many” says Bob Becker, the chief executive officer of the park, “and there was considerable demand for other kinds of recreation.”  Today only a few vestiges of the land’s past remain, although “we still find golf balls from time to time,” says Larry Schmidt, the director of the TPL’s local office. Once the regrading of greens and bunkers was complete, the Big Lake area was packed full of amenities. There is a boardwalk, a dock, a meadow for concerts, and an interpretive nature trail that passes through five regions of Louisiana landscape, from upland hardwoods to coastal grasslands and marshes. The next phase of the project will include the construction of a boathouse that is expected to generate revenue from both rentals and events.

 

Itsjustme3, I agree with you in that there is nothing wrong with the current layout, look, maintenance, character or style of City Park.  It's very pretty to look at and walk around (and even drive around).  And when I was a student at LSU, I even played once or twice with friends.  It's just that it is underutilized in an over-saturated public golf course "market" and serves a very small portion of the population.  What with the success of the dog park, tennis courts, BR Gallery, Movies on the Lawn and future Knock Knock museum, I think the neighborhood and the city have shown that they would use more if given the opportunity.  And I also think that BREC has shown that they are up to the challenge of creating a premier city park for everyone.

 

 

 

 

  

[cajun]

That's kind of odd. City Park already has extensive jogging, walking, and dog park infrastructure in place. There were tennis courts there as well a playground and access to the lakes. I disagree that the park as a whole caters to only a small portion of the population.

I really don't see the issue of City Park having a golf course. I've played it many times, and it was never any less busy that the private courses I've played.

I want to see the plans for City Park before I reserve judgement. If they are tearing out holes to have nothing but a stupid meadow with a railroad running through it, then I'm not going to be pleased. There doesn't seem to be plans out at all....so other than being "against the golf course", what positive change are these petitions asking for?

Edited May 10, 2013 by cajun

[itsjustme3]

BREC can't afford a park so lets take it away from BREC.

CATS can't afford their buses so let's steal taxpayer money to prop it up.

[pm_arch]

That's kind of odd. City Park already has extensive jogging, walking, and dog park infrastructure in place. There were tennis courts there as well a playground and access to the lakes. I disagree that the park as a whole caters to only a small portion of the population.

I really don't see the issue of City Park having a golf course. I've played it many times, and it was never any less busy that the private courses I've played.

I want to see the plans for City Park before I reserve judgement. If they are tearing out holes to have nothing but a stupid meadow with a railroad running through it, then I'm not going to be pleased. There doesn't seem to be plans out at all....so other than being "against the golf course", what positive change are these petitions asking for?

 

City Park does not have extensive jogging and walking in place.  There is a small playground area adjacent to the dog park but that's more of a destination with benches and playground equipment.  One can run on the side of the road around the park, just as in other areas, but to say one is running in the park or that there are trails in the park to walk (with a stroller, in my case), is not true.  So, currently, I walk the perimeter with my wife and baby, which is on the side of the road.

 

And no, I would not vote for something that I haven't seen a plan for yet, either.  But I would ask BREC to create a master plan for City Park to be a Central Park, of sorts, for the city.  Given the success they have had in the last 9 years since the Imagine Your Parks campaign was launched, I'd be very interested to see what they would propose.  

 

The fact is that the course is a nice back-drop to the neighborhood with the majority of the park very under-utilized and the remainder bursting with activity.  So that's a large portion of land for an under-utilized golf course.  Check their numbers, play has been declining across the board on all 7 of the public courses in our parish.

[cajun]

I'd like to see soccer fields there, and a few baseball diamonds.....but I'm not sure the terrain would support that.

It's the one park in Baton Rouge with a hill.

[itsjustme3]

I'd like to see soccer fields there, and a few baseball diamonds.....but I'm not sure the terrain would support that.

It's the one park in Baton Rouge with a hill.

You want to put a bunch of kids near the train tracks that runs right through the property? Imagine the insurance the city is going to have to pay.

[Antrell Williams]

I'm not an insurance aficionado but I'm not sure why it would make a difference. It's still a public park with the possibility of injuries or death.