Source: The Advocare (Baton Rouge, La.)
Scores of people jammed into the Baton Rouge (La.) City Park Recreation Center on Thursday night for a briefing about two possible plans to redevelop the 150-acre park.
One plan would retain and improve the existing nine-hole golf course that's listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The second plan would replace the golf course with a tennis complex, a huge pavilion, walking trails, bike paths and plenty of open space.
Van Cox of Henslee-Cox Landscape Architects told the overflow crowd that City Park has a chance to evolve into the "Central Park of Baton Rouge."
"Central Park at one time was a neglected area of New York City, and look what's happened to it now," he said.
City Park suffers from a lack of adequate parking, restrooms walkways, benches, and signs. The golf course fairways are too close to nearby streets in several areas, and should probably be relocated if the course is retained, Cox said.
In addition, Cox suggested that some greens and tee boxes might have to be moved, and that better directional signs need to installed throughout the course.
Cox said the lack of signage could prompt golfers to tee off in the wrong direction at some parts of the existing course, possible endangering other golfers.
Cox noted that the 150-acre City Park dates back to 1923, and that when the existing golf course opened a year later, it was the second municipal golf course in the nation.
BREC Superintendent Mark Thornton told the crowd that the briefing was intended to give everyone a good understanding of the two proposals.
For 11 hours today, staffers with the East Baton Rouge Parish Recreation and Parks Commission will be at City Park Recreation Center, 1442 City Park Ave., to take public input on the two proposed City Park redevelopment plans.
From 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. today, residents can ask questions, give their reactions to the two plans, and even suggest possible improvements.
BREC staff will continue to take public input on City Park for 30 days, Thornton said.
A final proposal will be unveiled on March 15, and the BREC Commission will consider taking official action March 22.
Meanwhile, members of BREC's governing board are looking into the possibility of jump-starting the redevelopment of City Park and other park makeovers with a $45-million bond, guaranteed by the 3.253-mill property tax approved by parish voters last year.
In all, the 20-year tax is expected to raise a total of $115 million: $70 million for park construction over the next 20 years, plus an additional $45 million to maintain and operate those facilities.
City Park is scheduled to receive $2.5 million for new construction, plus another $865,000 for maintenance and operations.
Richard Leibowitz, a bond attorney with the firm of Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson LLP who is handling BREC's bond issue, said interest rates are running from 4.25 percent to 4.75 percent on the tax-exempt bonds that would finance the parks projects.
Leibowitz said that on a $45 million bond issue, the total of all fees would likely run about $900,000.
But some critics are already questioning the selection of Leibowitz to handle the bonds without accepting bids from other attorneys.
"We have lots of good bond attorneys in Baton Rouge and I know that they would like to have a chance to compete for that work," said Fred Dent, one of the leaders of a political action committee called Tax Busters.
In an e-mail to Thornton on Thursday, Dent argued that it would be in the best interests of BREC to bid the bond work out, and take proposals from a number of qualified bond attorneys.
Thornton said BREC has retained Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson as its legal counsel, generally relying upon attorney Murphy Foster, the son of former Gov. Mike Foster, for legal advice.
Since Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson has an experienced bond counsel in Leibowitz, Thornton said it made sense to use him for the bonds, but noted that it's ultimately up to the BREC Commission to decide if it wants to take a different direction.
BREC's governing board has scheduled a workshop on the proposed bond issue at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday in the Independence Park Theater.
