What’s in a name? – Repentance Park

Strolling through the historic and elaborate heart of downtown Baton Rouge, one is drawn to the manicured green space outside City Hall that is Repentance Park. The two-acre area received a $3.9 million facelift last year, including modern water fountains, and nearby, The Crest, a shimmering concert stage and sculpture. With this renewed attention on an old area, we had to wonder: What’s behind the name?

225 asked landscape architect Suzanne Turner, who spoke at the park’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“This piece of ground is not what we might call virgin’ territory,” she says. “It has been occupied many times over since the settlement of the city.”

Repentance Street ran across the area from 1779 to 1819 during the period of Spanish rule, the only street that ran contrary to the city’s original grid. Convicted criminals used it on their way to receive sentencing at the Commandant’s House, located where the Old State Capitol now stands. With a majority Catholic population in the city, the idea that criminals should repent before sentencing became commonplace.

“Those who shepherded the creation of the first Repentance Park chose to honor the history of this place when naming it,” Turner says. “Because we also value the continuity in our culture, today Repentance Park is reborn, but not replaced. This park is about celebrating who we are as a city and about remembering that we are people grounded in our special place—a place with a deep history with many layers.”