BRAC backs downtown library and Galvez Plaza stage canopy

The Baton Rouge Area Chamber is urging the Metro Council to move forward with both the new $21 million downtown library and a $900,000 stage canopy for Galvez Plaza downtown. The council is set to take both items up at its meeting Wednesday. In a statement released this afternoon, BRAC President/CEO Adam Knapp says the council “will be putting two significant projects in jeopardy by limiting or eliminating their scope, both of which they have previously approved.” One item on the agenda, co-sponsored by five council members, is to request that the library board scrap the downtown library plan and present options for renovating the existing library. The council will also have the option of approving the low bid on the stage canopy, a move it previously deferred. “The replacement of the downtown library and the constructing of the town square canopy are two projects that will have a positive, long-term impact on the competitiveness of the Baton Rouge area in terms of jobs, capital investment, and talent retention and attraction, because it will show citizens and visitors alike that we are a progressive, innovative region prepared to be successful in a twenty-first century economy,” Knapp’s statement reads. Click here to read Knapp’s full statement.