Jackson group to check out downtown

A contingent of about 70 people from Jackson, Miss., will be in Baton Rouge next week to learn about the progress the city has made in downtown redevelopment, Mayor Kip Holden says. The group will be in Baton Rouge on July 9-10, looking at a things such as the consolidation of state government buildings and how city initiatives spurred developments such as the Shaw Center for the Arts, the Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center and Kress at Third and Main, says Davis Rhorer, executive director of the Downtown Development District. “That’s a moment to celebrate, that we are moving to that level,” Holden says. Holden made the announcement Wednesday evening at a meeting of Progress Is Baton Rouge, a grassroots organization that supports the bond issue the mayor hopes to have before voters Nov. 14. The details of the next bond issue will be revealed July 22, but Holden says it will be at least $100 million smaller than the $989 million voters rejected last year that included various infrastructure improvements, expansion of the River Center and the Audubon Alive riverfront attraction. The cities of Baker, Central and Zachary, which voted overwhelmingly against the last bond issue, will be eliminated from the potential taxing district and therefore won’t vote this time around.—David Jacobs