BREC's Pawnee Recreation Center Damaged by Fire
BATON ROUGE-The Pawnee Street Park and Recreation Center, at the intersection of Pawnee Street and Scenic Highway, was damaged by fire this afternoon. The fire started in a vacant home next door to the center and spread throughout the recreation facility.
The recreation center's indoor gymnasium, classrooms and meeting spaces were all damaged by the fire and smoke. Six fire trucks were at the scene to put out the fire. The cause of the fire and the extent of the damage have not been determined. BREC officials and officials from the Baton Rouge Fire Department are onsite to estimate the damage.
All recreation programming in the building is cancelled until further notice.
BREC, the Park and Recreation Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, has operated the neighborhood facility since 1993. The land and buildings at Pawnee Street Park were donated to BREC in 1992 by Claude R. Watkins and Betty Jean Annison Watkins. Their donated property consists of seven lots in the Istrouma subdivision.
