North Boulevard Town Square nets B.R. economic development award

Baton Rouge’s North Boulevard Town Square, which opened earlier this year, has netted the city the Louisiana Municipal Association’s top economic development achievement award among Louisiana cities with populations of 25,000 or more. Mayor Kip Holden and city officials recently accepted the Community Achievement Award for Economic Development at the association’s state convention in Lake Charles. The $7 million project created an acre of open green space in the heart of downtown by reconfiguring several streets near the historic Old State Capitol and the new 19th Judicial District Courthouse. The Town Square includes two stages for concerts, a fountain, tables and chairs, a covered bus stop and a media tower with a high-definition screen. “This project has taken our downtown to the next level among American cities, and that increases our ability to attract visitors and new businesses to keep our local economy strong,” Holden says in a release. The $2 million second phase of the Town Square project is slated to begin later this year to extend the park east along the North Boulevard median from Fourth Street to Fifth Street, and as far west as River Road. For more information on the square, click here.