A new green district becomes the gravitational center of civic life for this capital city.

Baton Rouge Central Green

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Together, Repentance Park and City Hall Plaza are the centerpieces of a collection of municipal and cultural buildings occupying the high geologic plateau overlooking the Mississippi River. As the first phases of Plan Baton Rouge II's Central Green proposal, this park and plaza link downtown to the city's great neighborhoods and the river and raise the expectations for Louisiana's public realm.

Layers

1 The Proposed Central Green
2 Proposed Circulation Network and Spatial Continuity
3 Proposed Conditions
4 Previous Conditions

A Powerful Investment in Public Space: The Central Green

Here, where the city of Baton Rouge was founded and where Louisiana’s Old State Capitol was constructed in 1847 (still extant), the modern downtown developed. In 1927, the Army Corps of Engineers’ levee separated downtown from the river. By the 1960s, the area had deteriorated into abandoned houses, parking lots, and a bus station. Urban renewal in the 1970s reconstructed the civic core: building a City Hall, Theater, Convention Center, and Courthouse. The focus on architecture surrounded by open plazas and the absence of an expressive landscape idea left the new district fragmented and static.

Implementing the concept of a circulatory braid — a strategy developed during the original planning process and based on the dendritic form of the unconstrained river — the scheme rejects an objectified, self-contained solution in favor of a shape that weaves connections within the larger urban context.

1840 period Lithographconjectural view across river to BR Old State Capitol is shown buthas not been constructed yet

c. 1840 lithograph of the view across the Mississippi River to the Baton Rouge riverfront and Old State Capitol.

c. 1960s. Baton Rouge’s civic core developed in the 1970s without a coherent plan for public space and pedestrian movement, resulting in fragmented, inaccessible places. Before its construction, the site comprised abandoned houses, parking lots, and a bus station.

Growing out of a decade-long planning effort performed in close coordination with the City-Parish, our role on Plan Baton Rouge II addressed some 21 acres of public realm downtown. The team identified the opportunity to unite the land around these institutions into a continuous open space network – The Central Green - that is cohesive and accessible, serves as an active venue for civic life, and fundamentally changes the way citizens used downtown’s streets and open spaces.

The Realization of a Decade of Planning: Repentance Park & City Hall Plaza

The design and reconstruction of the two sunken mid-century plazas resolved extreme technical complexities to dissolve the park perimeter and encourage free pedestrian movement. A new public park, an events plaza with performance venue, and associated streetscapes, compose the new Repentance Park and City Hall Plaza, which unite the open spaces around a collection of civic and cultural institutions at the core of downtown.

The sweeping, crescent-shaped landform of Repentance Park, inspired by the river’s natural levee, reconnects critical circulation routes and frames a major civic space beneath the Old State Capitol. This landform embraces a large lawn, creating an amphitheater for civic events and spontaneous recreation. At the upper elevations of the park, a multi-level promenade defined by Elms and Live Oaks provides views to the river and serves as a connector between city streets and the convention center and between City Hall Plaza and the park. City Hall Plaza stretches across the entire high terrace, focusing on Galvez Stage with a sculptural stainless-steel crescent that marks this civic space as venue for concerts, festivals, and other public events. Catenary lights illuminate the site, promoting safety and accommodating evening activities.

The Central Green welcomes the diverse communities bringing Baton Rouge to life today, framing the 1847 Old State Capitol and connections to the River.

City Hall Plaza’s new front porch welcomes citizens and visitors to a park that celebrates local businesses, government and cultural institutions.

Resolving Technical Complexity

The plaza’s restraint belies the complex infrastructure within the project. For years, this shared space was a harsh environment of large paved surfaces with little to no shade and rigid planters that prohibited accessibility and deterred a smooth, intuitive flow through the space. Below the new plaza, constructed over a multi-level parking garage, a network of structural soils, irrigation and sub-drainage support mature trees and event lawn that is resilient under heavy event use, an interactive fountain built on-structure, and intensive utilities spanning the park and sub-surface garage. The new circulation system created by the park connects civic destinations and brings universal accessibility between Galvez Plaza, City Hall, Repentance, Park, and the River Center.

The previous condition of City Hall Plaza included long runs of steps and multiple levels of grade change, presenting extensive accessibility challenges.

Process

1 Mid-century City Hall Plaza (previous condition)
2 City Hall Plaza Demolition
3 City Hall Plaza Construction
4 Downtown Concert Series on the Completed City Hall Plaza
5 Construction Progress

Like Plan Baton Rouge II, this project represents a robust collaboration among landscape architects to reflect this profession’s diverse capacities and broad agency. Landscape architects in leadership positions for the city, including the award-winning non-profit Center for Planning Excellence, and the Mayor’s Downtown Development District agency, directed the urban planning and design efforts. The design team joined them to shape the visioning, strategizing, public engagement, and programming. Their leadership extends to the stewardship of the project today, so that the Central Green will continue to expand and transform Baton Rouge.