Did you know BREC has a cornucopia of awesome hiking trails in our backyard? Seriously, I work for BREC and didn’t know this. Until recently, I’ve been saving my precious outdoor weekends for excursions to far off distant lands like Tunica Hills and the occasional Arkansas or Texas gem. But good news folks, we have some great places to visit that are not that far off the beaten path and you don’t even have to leave the state to find them.
So you’ve decided to join the vast birder movement but don’t know where to begin with the 470 birds that traverse through Louisiana? We don’t blame you! From physical identification to call identification, each bird can have many variations of the two. With that, it can be a daunting task, but we’re here to help!
Welcome to 2020! As your parks and recreation system, we are always trying to make sure you know what we fun have to offer, what you can do at your parks, and how we are always working to improve what we do. But this year we wanted to take it a step further!
The BREC Commission approved master plans for the Baton Rouge Zoo and Greenwood Community Park.
BREC is pleased to announce the launch of the master planning processes for the Baton Rouge Zoo and Greenwood Community Park. Two nationally-acclaimed design consultants have been selected through a competitive bid process and kickoff meetings were held in late November 2018, allowing the consultants to gain a better understanding of the sites and scope of the projects.
BREC’s external auditor, Postlethwaite & Netterville, has submitted a preliminary draft of BREC’s 2017 annual audited financial statements to the Louisiana Legislative Auditor (LLA) as required by state law. The draft audit report, which cannot be finalized and released publicly until it is reviewed and approved by the LLA, shows that revenues generated from BREC’s programs and services have returned to pre-flood levels – increasing from $9,839,713 in 2016 to $10,137,338 in 2017, or a total increase of 3%.
In the first step toward the creation of a reimagined Zoo and Greenwood Community Park, BREC is soliciting proposals from highly qualified and innovative design teams to develop a master plan for the 660-acre park.
Yesterday’s news conference held at Greenwood Community Park regarding BREC’s proposal for a more visible and sustainable location for the Baton Rouge Zoo included several incorrect statements made by speakers that BREC would like to correct.
Thursday, March 22, the BREC Commission will hold its regularly scheduled meeting at 5 p.m. at 6201 Florida Boulevard. The meeting will include a presentation from outside experts who have evaluated BREC’s Airline Highway Park as a feasible site for the Zoo.
In partnership with BREC, The Baton Rouge Bicentennial Commission, The East Baton Rouge Parish Library System, and Baton Rouge Green, a Live Oak will be planted at Expressway Park in honor of Baton Rouge’s 200th birthday.
The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), announced at its national conference in New Orleans that BREC won two national awards including the Excellence in Innovative Programming Award for BREC’s LEO Program which is working to bridge the gap between law enforcement and young adults, teens and youth and Project ARK: Animals Reaching Kids which brings Zoo staff and animals into science classes of low-income students to strengthen their STEM skills and develop an understanding of the importance of conservation efforts in our area and around the world
EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH – BREC recently completed improvements and construction of a new playground and other amenities at Rita Street Park located at 2315 Rita Street in Zachary. The public is invited to attend the unveiling and Back to School Bash event on Sunday, September 17 from 3-5p.m., with the playground ribbon cutting beginning at 3:00 p.m.
BREC is excited to announce receipt of a federal grant valued at more than $3.7-million to construct a multi-use bike pedestrian trail connecting Downtown to North Baton Rouge.
BREC’s Planning and Engineering Department will hold an open house style planning meeting to discuss possible improvements to Bird Station Park at Gloryland Baptist Church.
BREC will hold six community meetings to collect input from residents across the parish on the proposal to create the first of its kind regional park at Greenwood and to find a more sustainable location for the Baton Rouge Zoo. The BREC Commission will vote on taking the next step in the process at its regularly scheduled meeting August 24 at 5 p.m.
BREC in partnership with Friends of Hilltop Arboretum and the Bartram Trail Conference dedicated a Bartram trail marker in memory of Fred G. Benton Jr. on Friday, June 9 at 6 pm. The trail marker indicates a portion of the route taken by William Bartram, America’s first native-born naturalist artist. Bartram recorded animal and plant life during a four-year trip crossing several southeastern states between 1773 and 1777. The trail marker is located at BREC’s Airline Highway Park at 17200 Airline Highway and Bayou Manchac. The trail marker was dedicated in memory of Fred G. Benton Jr., who was a Bartram Trail supporter and a civic leader in the Baton Rouge Community. A plaque was unveiled in his honor with many of the Benton family in attendance.
Following the public unveiling of concept plans to create the first regional park in the BREC system at Greenwood Park, which will involve the relocation and development of a state of the art Zoo in a more sustainable location of East Baton Rouge Parish, BREC will hold a public meeting where residents can weigh in on the proposed plans, hear a presentation from Superintendent Carolyn McKnight, submit questions to BREC staff regarding the plans, and provide comments for BREC’s consideration.
BREC recently completed construction of new amenities at Kathy Drive Park located at 1801 Kathy Drive. The public is invited to attend a ribbon cutting on Saturday, April 8 at 10 a.m. immediately followed by a host of recreational and fun activities until noon.
Six months after the historic flood, CSRS Consulting Group gave the BREC Commission an update on ongoing efforts to repair and reopen buildings damaged by storm waters. While 22 buildings suffered damage, many of them are restrooms and maintenance buildings.
This year the Highland Road Park Observatory (HRPO) celebrates its 20th anniversary of “brining astronomy to the people.” The Highland Road Park Observatory is brought to the public by BREC, Louisiana State University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Baton Rouge Astronomical Society and held its first public night in the Fall of 1997. The observatory houses a state-of-the-art 20-inch reflecting telescope, which has been used to discover more than 40 asteroids, and an accessible 16-inch reflecting telescope.
BREC Superintendent Carolyn McKnight received the 2016 National Distinguished Professional Award at the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) Annual Congress and Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri.