BREC cuts the ribbon on two new facilities in north Baton Rouge

A recently completed community park with a pool, game room and playground, and a new eco-friendly pocket park officially opened in June in north Baton Rouge, bringing new recreational opportunities to Red Stick residents.

Howell Community Park and Erie Street Park both saw ribbon cuttings last month, marking the end of years-long efforts to see each of them completed.

One of the city’s oldest parks, Howell Community Park now features a new recreation center, swimming pool, park, pavilion and other amenities. A master plan had been developed for the park back in 2016, but after the existing recreational center was damaged beyond repair during massive, regional flooding that year, a more comprehensive project took root, says BREC Assistant Director of Planning & Development Brett Wallace. Completed in late 2024, the $8 million, 15,500-square-foot facility boasts a game room for kids and teens, programming space for seniors, meeting rooms, event space and a pool bathhouse with showers, restrooms and changing areas.

Howell Community Park’s swimming pool is one of three free and open-to-the-public aquatic facilities operated by BREC. Others include Anna T. Jordan Community Park on Stilt Street and Brooks Park on Eddie Robinson Drive, a short distance from City Park and part of the complex known as City-Brooks Community Park. Liberty Lagoon, a fee-based water park, reopened last week after a month-long delay due to maintenance issues and a lifeguard shortage.

Howell Park’s grounds connect to the forthcoming Inspiration Center, a pioneering project led by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Louisiana and The Baton Rouge Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Foundation. The Inspiration Center tracks with national models that aim to provide constructive activities for kids and teens and keep them out of trouble. The 25,000-square-foot facility will offer an indoor basketball gym, two computer labs and a law enforcement room.

BREC Assistant Director of Recreation Jason Templet says having the Inspiration Center located in the Howell Park complex will mean more opportunities for shared programming for the community.

Meanwhile, off Plank Road, BREC also announced the recent opening of Erie Street Park, one of the first projects of Build Baton Rouge’s 2019 Imagine Plank Road Plan for Equitable Development. The new BREC park is what’s known as a pocket park—a small, but strategically located recreational space situated in an urban community.

The eco-friendly Erie Street Park transformed blighted land into a passive greenspace, complete with a shaded pavilion for community gatherings, garden boxes, native plants and flowers and an overall design that supports flood mitigation. The $275,000 project was created by BREC and Build Baton Rouge, with a design inspired by LSU School of Landscape Architecture students.

“Erie Street Park is… a symbol of what’s possible when communities come together with a shared vision for equitable development,” BREC Assistant Superintendent of System Planning Reed Richard says. “This park brings life and connection back to an area rich in history and potential.”