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# Take me to the river
- URL: https://www.redeyebr.com/take-me-to-the-river/
- Published: 2026-05-05T01:00:30.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-05T01:00:30.000Z
- Description: A smelly eyesore could become an asset on the Mississippi. What happens depends on local government.
- Author: Mukul Verma
- Tags: News, Governing

The city-parish may ask developers to propose ideas for a potentially valuable piece of Baton Rouge real estate: the former sewage treatment plan on riverfront land near Nicholson Drive.

**Why it matters:** The old plant sits in a corridor already drawing serious investment: the Water Campus, new housing, mixed-use projects and thousands of student beds around Burbank and Nicholson, and proposed [sports tourism facilities](https://www.redeyebr.com/sports-incorporated/) and an LSU sports and events arena.

Redeveloping the site could turn a former smelly eyesore into another catalyst for the stretch.

**The details:** Lon Vicknair, Mayor-President Sid Edwards’ chief of staff, says the city-parish may gather public input or issue a request for proposals for the property.

A decision on how to proceed should come this year, though Vicknair says much remains undecided.

**Background:** The city-parish no longer needs the site because it built a larger wastewater treatment plant farther south, near Nicholson and Brightside.

Demolition is underway at the old plant. Engineering studies show the roughly 21-acre site can handle most types of redevelopment without major environmental cleanup.

**The bottom line:** Baton Rouge has spent years turning its back to the river. This is a rare chance to turn around.

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**Continue reading**

[Baton Rouge’s riverfront gets a rare blank slateIdeas for replacing a stinking eyesore off Nicholson![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)RedEyeMukul Verma![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c8/1d/c81d6c92-592f-461e-97d4-7573bc659b2b/content/images/size/w1200/2026/03/Riverfront-Brewery-v01-01.02.jpg)](https://www.redeyebr.com/2baton-rouges-riverfront-gets-a-rare-blank-slate/)

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