Officials: Downtown construction won’t impede Bowling Congress

Ongoing construction downtown should not deter the estimated 60,000 bowlers expected to converge in Baton Rouge next year for the U.S. Bowling Congress Open Championships, officials say. Construction of a 48-lane bowling alley began this week inside the River Center in advance of the five-month tournament, and a news conference Wednesday officially kicked off the effort. Baton Rouge Area Convention & Visitors Bureau President Paul Arrigo said at the conference that he expects the event to bring $100 million into the city in 2012. Baton Rouge held the championships in 2005, bringing in $70 million. Arrigo says that he does not expect construction in the vicinity of the River Center to hinder tournament traffic in any significant way. “We have more parking lots now and more than double the number of downtown hotels within walking distance” than in 2005, he says. Additionally, Arrigo says, the competition’s extensive time span means that crowds will be tempered. “Five months of bowling comes down to 1,000 visitors per day,” he says. “People are coming back and forth. That’s not nearly as bad as if it were one huge event.” Davis Rhorer, executive director with the Downtown Development District, says that construction of the North Boulevard Town Square will be finished well in advance, with cleanup possibly taking place within the next two weeks. “There will be access to the River Center at St. Louis Street and at River Road. Pedestrian access from City Hall to Town Square—that will all be open,” he says. “Pedestrian and vehicular traffic will be fine.” The USBC Open will run from Feb. 11 to July 10. —Ian McGibboney