Get on with it

It’s time for Baton Rouge’s elected leaders to get out of the way of the investors and entrepreneurs who are trying to make this a better city to live in—specifically, Baton Rouge needs to finish what it has started and create a downtown entertainment district.

For more than a decade, a renaissance has blossomed, the extent of which landlords only dreamed of for a generation. Things really took off when Mark Drennen of Gov. Mike Foster’s administration got the ball rolling on an existing plan to consolidate the state’s far-flung offices into the Capitol Park we see today.

More than $1 billion has been invested in stylish new buildings. Small businesses have followed close behind, opening restaurants, bars and shops. Real estate investors have bought and renovated old buildings to create great new lofts and that bring new residents downtown for the first time in many years.

Another wave of risk-takers is poised to rehab problem buildings, to open even more new restaurants and bars in the remaining dead spots and vacant buildings. These entrepreneurs can imagine a time when people from all over the parish descend downtown, walk to dinner, stroll from shop to shop, pop into a bar for a cold beer, and then stroll (drink in hand) around a downtown throbbing with nightlife.

The proposed entertainment district will attract even more visitors, which will cut through decades of red tape and restrictions that today make putting on even the simplest event a regulatory challenge.

Similar districts have been designated in other cities to reinvigorate their downtowns. This idea was first conceived for Baton Rouge on the Chamber’s trip to Austin, Texas. But that was three years ago. It’s time to get on with it.

Shortly after the trip when the idea first came up, Metro Councilman Joe Greco’s knee-jerk reaction was to warn of “another Bourbon Street.” Ridiculous. Go back to sleep, Joe.

Funny how those folks who have opposed downtown’s renaissance seldom even visit from the ’burbs yet want to dictate how it must be done. We don’t have to let them have the final say.

Unfortunately, until the Metro Council steps up and enacts the proposed entertainment district, the entrepreneurs who take a risk downtown will hesitate, or worse, opt to stay away. As a community, we cannot afford to let that happen.