Kress building might include movie theater

A 75-seat movie theater that would play first-run movies and documentaries could be part of the Kress at Third & Main building. John Schneider, president of Cyntreniks of Baton Rouge, which is redeveloping the historic building, told the Downtown Development District Commission this morning that he's looking at the financial viability and feasibility of putting a theater in the building.

Schneider says he wants to include a place in the building to screen documentaries about the lunch counter sit-ins that happened in the old Kress Department store and the redevelopment of the site. "We could also use this space to show first-run movies that might not come to Baton Rouge," Schneider says. "And people who are shooting movies in the area could screen dailies in the theater." The Kress building, which will include office and residential space, is scheduled to open in September.

Also at the meeting, Executive Director Davis Rhorer says plans are in the works to hire a consultant to draw up rules and regulations for the proposed Third Street arts and entertainment district. The consultant would get $65,000 for the job, with the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, Metro Council, Baton Rouge Convention & Visitors bureau, Downtown Business Association and DDD picking up the tab. Rhorer says the consultant would establish such things as sales tax incentives to get businesses to move downtown and design guidelines for lighting and signs. The Metro Council is scheduled to vote on paying its share of the fees at its December meeting. --Timothy Boone

Revenues drop at the Belle

The Belle of Baton Rouge riverboat casino reported a nearly 15% drop in third-quarter revenues, as the downtown gambling boat continues to feel the impact of losing a prime parking area and the return of the Mississippi casino market. Tropicana Entertainment, which owns the Belle, says the casino brought in $22.3 million during the three-month period ending Sept. 30, compared with the $26.1 million in revenues during the same time in 2006. Phil Witter, who owns the parking lot next to the casino, took away the Belle's parking privileges earlier this year after he says the Belle failed to pay him rent on the site and cancelled two rent checks. The casino is building a new parking garage that should open in the summer. Through the first nine months of the year, the casino had $75.8 million in revenue, a 14% drop from the $88.4 million it brought in during the first three quarters of 2006.

Prince Murat plans change again

The Prince Murat Inn site is stagnant once again. A plan to build two 11-story apartment towers was in the works, but it ran afoul of zoning regulations that limit the site to four stories. “We heard through the grapevine that Old South Baton Rouge wouldn’t approve of the 11-story buildings either, so we didn’t take it any further,” said Ty Gose of NAI/Latter & Blum. River House Partners, which owns the site has reworked the initial proposal. New plans include two four-story buildings—one would be a 60,000-square-foot office building, the other would be home to 208 luxury apartments. Plans also call for retail and/or restaurants, along with underground parking. --Mary Helen Crumpler

Loop meeting set for Thursday

The executive committee of the Baton Rouge Loop implementation team will meet at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in Metro Council chambers. There will be a report on the October meetings of the stakeholders and advisory committees, an engineering update on possible corridors and a finance briefing.

Downtown art event in the planning stages

An organizational meeting will be held at 5 p.m. Thursday at Boudreaux & Thibodeaux to discuss Arte Rouge, a downtown art event set for April 5. Plans are to hold the festival, which would be similar to the white linen nights in New Orleans, right after the Southern Breeze Wine and Culinary Festival. "We don't want this to be a one-time thing," says Danny McGlynn, one of the organizers of Arte Rouge. "We're looking to do this year after year." McGlynn says he's looking for active volunteers to get the festival started.

Get schooled on levees

Even though the controversy surrounding Louisiana’s levee boards following the 2005 hurricane season has died down a bit, state officials are still pushing for more accountability. The latest efforts comes in the form of the “Louisiana Levee School,” an in-class tutorial on everything from administration to design and construction for the state’s levee boards and anyone else interested. Formally called the “Flood Protection and Ecosystem Restoration Professional Development Program,” the classes are slated for Nov. 27-29 in Baton Rouge. Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Chair Sidney Coffee says the three-day program is the first step in providing a professional development program to assist public agencies, including levee boards and districts, in fulfilling their responsibilities in flood protection and ecosystem restoration. After initial training, participants will return annually for one-day continuing education. "Hurricanes Katrina and Rita taught us that we need to integrate our approach to both our man-made flood protection systems and our natural environment," Coffee says. "[The] school will give our commissioners and managers better tools for decision-making." --Jeremy Alford

'Real Estate Weekly' has news on Hollingsworth Mazda, new apartments

Real Estate Weekly is out with news about a move for Hollingsworth Mazda, a proposed apartment development on Greenwell Springs Road, a seminar for residential contractors and the latest columns from Brian Andrews and Tom Cook. To read the newsletter, click here .

News roundup: BRAC receives award; Glut of scientists and engineers reported

Honor for the chamber:The Baton Rouge Area Chamber has earned the top national award from the Southern Economic Development Council for its literature and promotions. This is the second year in a row that BRAC has taken the best in show recognition for its promotional efforts. The chamber's Catalyst magazine also earned a superior ranking. Don't let your kids grow up to be engineers: All of the federal money being pumped into universities has created more scientists and engineers than the market can handle, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education. Michael S. Teitelbaum, vice president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which sponsors research, told Congress last week that the federal government needs to adjust research dollars so universities don't use the money to add graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Engineers and scientists are grumbling about poor job prospects, and some have started warning their children not to enter the field.