The East Baton Rouge Parish Library Board of Control will get its first look this afternoon at a plan to locate a long-awaited south branch neighborhood library in Rouzan, the Traditional Neighborhood Development in Southdowns.
Though board members have been briefed individually on the proposal, which was formally unveiled at a March 6 community meeting, the full board has not yet seen the formal plans.
That will come at their monthly meeting, when Rouzan developers John Engquist and Charles Landry unveil their plans to sell a 1.75-acre site on the edge of the TND along Glasgow Avenue to the library system for the facility.
Library Director Spencer Watts, an advocate of the plan, says in the days since the proposed site was announced, library board and staff have received overwhelmingly positive feedback.
“We probably collectively have heard from well over 100 people over the course of the last week,” Watts says. “I know I’ve heard from 35 to 40 personally, and they’re all overwhelmingly in favor of it.”
The library board has been searching for a south branch site for more than five years—since its initial plans to locate the library in Rouzan, then owned by Tommy Spinosa, fell through.
A group of investors led by Engquist and Landry acquired Rouzan earlier this year.
The proposed library will be around 15,000 square feet and has a budget of some $6.75 million—money the library board set aside for the project several years ago. Watts says the actual cost will likely be higher, but he cannot say by how much. The sale price of the property, which is included in the budget, will also be disclosed at the meeting today.
The library board is not expected to vote on the matter. Watts says there’s a lot of information to digest and the board will want to devote ample time for public comments.
The meeting is at 4 p.m. at the Main Branch, 7711 Goodwood Blvd.
