Revitalization through culture

When thinking about how to improve Baton Rouge, it seems a lot of people are dreaming up the same things.

On this blog last week (and in our May “Idea Issue”), we talked about how artists-in-residence programs can help boost a struggling neighborhood. The Lincoln Theater on Myrtle Walk in Old South Baton Rouge was one example of a place where that could happen. Around the same time came the announcement that the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge would be looking at the area around the Lincoln Theater for possible arts and cultural development, thanks to a hefty grant from the Kresge Foundation.

As part of Kresge’s Arts and Community Building grant, the Arts Council is getting $300,000 for a yearlong feasibility study followed by the creation of a master implementation plan in the second year.

Taking that out of non-profit lingo, the Arts Council—along with partners Center for Planning Excellence and others—will begin this fall talking to artists, community groups in the neighborhood and arts organizations to figure out what they’d want to see in a new cultural district (Old South Baton Rouge is already designated a cultural products district by the state). Couple that with research on similar successful projects, hiring a consulting team, figuring out which properties can be renovated or repurposed as venues, retail space or green space, and launching pilot arts programs and you’ve got phase one. Tentatively, that phase will be completed August 2013.

Phase two will focus on the financial strategy, gathering public and philanthropic support, and turning everything from phase one into a model program ready for use here and in other communities wanting to develop their own cultural districts.

This project will work in tandem with the Louisiana Black History Hall of Fame, which already has a renovation plan for the Lincoln Theater. The Hall of Fame purchased the historic building a few years ago and intends to open it up again as a venue for performances and more, with a four-story addition that will provide gallery space and offices. The theater will serve as an anchor for the cultural district while preserving its storied past during the Civil Rights movement.

“For a lot of people in the neighborhood, this was once the center of community life,” says Derek Gordon, CEO of the Arts Council. “This grant will serve as a catalyst for redevelopment.”