Unpaving paradise
Removing cemented canals in the parish would create more desirable neighborhoods and improve water retention.
Residents are complaining about trash in Corporation Canal, which appears and disappears underground as it winds from the Mississippi River through Old South Baton Rouge and around LSU.
Mayor-President Sid Edwards’ administration has placed cleanup of the canal near East State Street on its to-do list. But had a plan for Old South Baton Rouge been implemented, the canal might be more than trash-free. It could be a greenway lined with homes and recreation spaces.
The Baton Rouge Area Foundation and its affiliated planning nonprofit, the Center for Planning Excellence, created that plan 20 years ago.
A bit of background: Concrete canals were built when the material’s usefulness entranced designers who gave little thought to its consequences in cities. The goal was to move water out as quickly as possible. But going against Mother Nature often means sending water downstream to flood someone else.
The Old South Baton Rouge plan offered a more sensible vision: Widen, realign and naturalize Corporation Canal to create a linear park and greenway with north-south bike trails. The existing 50-foot paved ditch would become a gradually sloped valley at least 150 feet wide, made possible by acquiring vacant, blighted and underused properties along the corridor.
It remains an idea worth revisiting today. BREC's Webb Park would be a fine place to start. Naturalizing the canal through the golf course would make it a more beautiful space—and show Baton Rouge that drainage infrastructure does not have to be an eyesore and combat Mother Nature, who bats last and bats 1.000.