Old South B.R. YMCA gets new solar-powered pavilion

Designed and constructed by LSU students—and installed by Baton Rouge Community College students—a new solar-powered pavilion was officially opened today at the Baranco Clark YMCA branch in Old South Baton Rouge. The 440-square-foot, open-air pavilion will be used as a community meeting space and classroom for YMCA youth programs, says Phillip LaFargue, spokesman for the Center for Planning Excellence, which helped coordinate funding and partnering agencies on the project. “The solar panels will power the lighting and a fan for the pavilion, and whatever power is left over will be fed back into the main facility,” he says. There are eight solar panels on the pavilion, which cost approximately $75,000. Major funding came from the Huey and Angelina Wilson Foundation, with additional funding from the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and East Baton Rouge Mortgage Finance Authority. Landscaping around the pavilion was paid for by the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors. —Steve Sanoski