FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Janene Tate, Communications Director
Southern University System
janene_tate@sus.edu
225.771.3216
Jessica McKelvie Kemp, Vice President
Center for Planning Excellence
jkemp@cpex.org
225.389.7253
Master Plan Initiated for Southern University and the Scotlandville Community
Plan to focus on consensus building, positioning SU as community anchor, and implementation.
Baton Rouge, LA, April 16, 2020- The Southern University System Foundation has launched a new initiative to plan for the future of Southern University and A&M College and the surrounding community. Southern University is part of the only system of Historically Black College and Universities in the U.S. This comprehensive plan focuses on increasing enrollment and upgrading infrastructure, while expanding the university’s support of the local community. In collaboration with East Baton Rouge Parish officials, Scotlandville community leaders, Southern alumni, students, faculty, administration and community neighbors, efforts are underway to seek out community input that is representative of the diversity of the community. The 12-month planning process will offer a variety of opportunities to become involved and remain engaged throughout the project.
“We are excited to embark upon this interactive plan for not only our campus but also this community,” said Ray L. Belton, president of the Southern University System and chancellor of Southern University Baton Rouge. “Southern has a great responsibility to be instrumental in advancements of North Baton Rouge, which welcomed us here in 1914. We are proud to call it home. This plan will also be a gateway to better relationships between the university and its constituents, including our surrounding neighborhoods.”
This planning effort is preceded by others undertaken for Southern and the surrounding area over the last decade. The Community Improvement Plan created by Build Baton Rouge in 2011 and the Scotlandville Community Development Plan created by the Southern University School of Architecture, also in 2011, set the framework for improvements within the community. Imagine 20K, which was announced in 2019, is a long-term strategic plan for the campus, provided the foundation for Southern University to dream big about how the campus will grow in the coming years. This current planning effort will build upon recommendations and successes of past plans and make future recommendations based on current conditions and opportunities that will guide the University and surrounding neighborhoods into the future. Southern University leadership supports the planning effort as key to creating an environment that is most conducive to learning and positioning the university to do more to catalyze economic development in North Baton Rouge.
The project is being funded by the Southern University System Foundation who have selected CPEX, a statewide nonprofit planning organization, to lead the project. The goal of this master planning effort is to develop an integrated plan and implementation strategy for both the university and its surrounding community guided by the Imagine 20K initiatives’ goals to build Southern University’s size and reach within the community. When completed, SU and the Scotlandville community will have a comprehensive and visionary document complete with a campus master plan, an updated neighborhood plan, and an implementation strategy that identifies community improvement priorities and establishes a path toward immediate implementation.
Chris Tyson with Build Baton Rouge said, “I would like to see the plan help to advance community development at a more robust and coordinated level in Scotlandville and North Baton Rouge. I would also like to see Southern University solidified as a community anchor.”
The Southern University campus is rich with history and is well-positioned to serve as an anchor for North Baton Rouge. A decade of State budget cuts for higher education coupled with disinvestment in the surrounding community has led to blight and abandonment in the area. In recent years, community leaders have recognized opportunities to revive Scotlandville and important work is being done at the neighborhood level to preserve the culture, reinvigorate economic activity, and promote the area’s diverse history. The integrated campus and community planning effort seeks to build on that momentum, capitalize on plans for growing the University, and strengthen the connection between the two.
The master plan will focus on the Southern University’s flagship campus and expand outward toward I-110. Site specific detail will be provided for corridors along Harding Blvd, Swan St, Scotland Ave, and Scenic Hwy. Collaboration with the Southern University System Foundation, residents and business owners, local high school students and faculty, elected officials, community leaders, alumni, and students are all important elements to ensure that the plan outcomes are aligned with the needs of the stakeholders.
Other Plan Highlights:
▪ An urban design strategy to enhance visual and physical connections between the SU campus and the surrounding community
▪ Interactive public engagement events, including open design studio sessions
▪ Innovative building programming, complete with high-level cost estimation, and design visualizations illustrating proposed
recommendations
▪ Strategic implementation plan that builds on existing plans and community needs
For more information and to follow the progress of the Southern University Campus and Scotlandville Neighborhood Master Plan, janene_tate@sus.edu
Southern University and A&M College
Southern University and A&M College is a comprehensive institution offering graduate, professional, and doctorate programs, fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). The Southern University System is a multi-campus, State of Louisiana university system continually building upon a legacy of providing an opportunity to students from all walks of life. Our mission is to further develop and fortify our land grant purpose with an emphasis on appropriate access and delivery of quality instruction, problem-solving, high-impact research, extension, and service.
Southern University System Foundation
The Southern University System Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation established to secure financial support for each of the five campuses of the Southern University System. The Foundation is a voluntary institute of business and professional leaders, proudly incorporated to provide broader educational advantages to our students, encourage research among our faculty, and advance the University's role in helping to build an increasingly functional Louisiana.
About the Center for Planning Excellence
CPEX is a non-profit organization that coordinates urban, rural and regional planning efforts in Louisiana. We provide best-practice planning models, innovative policy ideas, and technical assistance to individual communities that wish to create and enact master plans dealing with transportation and infrastructure needs, environmental issues, and quality design for the built environment. CPEX brings community members and leaders together and provides guidance as they work toward a shared vision for future growth and development. Since our founding in 2006, CPEX has been involved with the planning efforts of more than 30 Louisiana cities, towns and parishes.
Eskew+Dumez+Ripple
EDR is a nationally honored architecture, interiors and urban planning firm recognized for producing innovative projects grounded by a strong understanding of context, culture, and environment. From the firm’s inception in 1989, EDR has been driven by four enduring core values: Design Excellence, Environmental Responsibility, Community Outreach, and Client Commitment. Every aspect of the practice has been structured to support these ideals. The resulting body of work – ranging from intimate interiors to large urban planning projects with numerous stakeholders – reflects our aspiration to building community, regardless of project scale, budget, scope or complexity.
JQuad Planning Group
Since 1994, JQUAD PLANNING GROUP (JQUAD) has been a leader in providing planning, research, analysis, and strategic planning, grants management, support to public and private sector clients across the country with an emphasis on the housing and community and economic development, and disaster assistance. JQUAD is a leader in revitalization and sustainability planning with core competencies in fair housing, urban, regional and rural planning; disaster planning and recovery; commercial corridor and neighborhood redevelopment; housing and economic development finance; public policy, regulatory development and implementation.
Vectura Consulting Services
Vectura is led by two veteran Louisiana transportation engineers who have unique expertise in providing transportation engineering services from the early planning stages of a project to the development of design plans and through final implementation in the field. We integrate our design and construction management expertise with our extensive knowledge of planning and operations to provide clients with the ideal combination of creative, yet practical solutions that address the needs of all travel modes. Vectura has extensive experience in traffic data collection, intersection/interchange analysis, microsimulation modeling, corridor analysis, roundabout analysis, traffic signal design, and construction engineering and inspection.
Sinektiks
Sinektiks, LLC. is dedicated to creating environments and developing communities with lasting value, through an artistic process that engages a diverse group of individuals. Sinektiks is a creative service design firm specializing in design, master planning and project management of community and housing as well as mix-use developments. Our focus is to establish strong connections with the development team to ensure their expectations are met and take all the elements associated with the design and construction of a project into consideration for the successful delivery of the overall product.
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