Sit a spell
Third Street parklet could set the stage for a more welcoming downtown.
Baton Rouge’s celebration street might get a new sidewalk park, a step toward turning Third Street, where possible, into a more inviting public space.
Why it matters: Third Street is downtown’s signature corridor. Making it more welcoming and usable would give the Downtown Development District a distinctive destination to promote and attract more people for food, nightlife and public events.
The details: The DDD has funding to build a parklet on the first block of Third Street, an area it has targeted for improvements that could serve as a model for the rest of the corridor. Parish government will choose a low-bid contractor to do the work.
- The sidewalk and adjacent curb space—which has no legal parking, though drivers park there anyway—would be converted into space for alfresco dining outside Downtown Seafood.
- Third Street already has a parklet in front of The Vintage. Another downtown parklet sits on Sixth Street outside Cocha.
What they’re saying: “The idea is that this would be the pilot to show the proof of concept,” says DDD Executive Director Whitney Hoffman Sayal. “We would look for additional funding to add parklets.”
What’s next: Sayal says the DDD will provide free design services to businesses interested in adding parklets where the street and surrounding space can accommodate them.
Meanwhile: The DDD has cut the ribbon on an extension of the River Road path that reaches apartments just past Queen Casino, giving people a safer place to walk and bike while connecting them to the broader path network.
What’s more: The Metro Council is set to vote today on a slate of DDD commissioners that largely continues the district’s current leadership.
- Landscape architect Suzanne Turner, Wampold Companies' Gary Black and Greater Baton Rouge Economic Partnership's Joshua Hollins are up for reappointment.
- Restaurateur and club owner Brad Watts is nominated to replace Baton Rouge Area Foundation’s Eric Dexter.
- Don Hingle is set to replace Phillip Jordan. Both are b1BANK executives.
Bottom line: The parklet is a small project with a bigger purpose: showing how targeted improvements could make Third Street and downtown as a whole more inviting, walkable and active.
