Portland, Oregon-based planner John Fregonese—who spearheaded multiple planning projects in Baton Rouge during Mayor Kip Holden’s administration, including the FuturEBR master plan in 2011—died earlier this week following a brief illness. He was 66.
Fregonese, who had family ties to New Orleans and frequently visited the state as a child, first came to the area professionally in the mid-2000s in wake of Hurricane Katrina, when the Center for Planning Excellence hired him to create a regional master plan, Louisiana Speaks. He followed that with several local master plans for area parishes and a coastal sustainability plan.
But FuturEBR was Fregonese’s signature project in the area, one that promised to address some of the problems—lack of connectivity and walkability, chief among them—that have made Baton Rouge a city of sprawl and gridlock. The plan was put together after a yearlong series of community meetings and charrettes.
After FuturEBR, the city-parish hired Fregonese to come back in 2013 and begin revising the city-parish zoning code so that the laws on the books would dovetail with the goals outlined in the plan.
“John was an insightful visionary planner that stressed inclusiveness in his several projects in Baton Rouge,” says Downtown Development District Executive Director Davis Rhorer. “I thoroughly enjoyed working with him as we dove into several urban issues that needed clarity and improvement.”
Other key Fregonese projects included work on the planned TramLink BR streetcar line along Nicholson Drive, which has since been tabled; the former Entergy site at 1509 Government St., which is now under redevelopment and is expected to open later this year; the downtown parking garages; and the Plank Road corridor.
Friends and associates in Baton Rouge are remembering Fregonese today as an engaging visionary planner, whose impact will long be felt on this community.
“The plans and ideas John worked tirelessly on here in Baton Rouge have really just begun to be implemented,” says real estate consultant and developer Susannah Bing Johannsen, who worked with Fregonese while at the East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority.
“Just look at the Government Street road diet and the wonderful development going on in Mid City, downtown, the Perkins Road Overpass area and the Health District. He has already had a huge impact on Baton Rouge.”
