Baton Rouge, LA – Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome thanks the Metropolitan Council for approving a visionary new proposal that would bring Baton Rouge a new LSU Arena, while planning to upgrade the River Center’s convention capacity and enhance Memorial Stadium. She also applauded the Metropolitan Council’s approval of a plan to ensure a proposed ExxonMobil expansion project’s tax revenue would be used for important public purposes across the parish. Mayor Broome led support for these transformational parish-wide initiatives, recognizing the importance of public-private partnerships and transcending partisan divides and geographical barriers to achieve success in Baton Rouge and propel the Capital Region forward.
“We need to think big and bold when we talk about making Baton Rouge better in the future,” said Mayor Broome. “We want our River Center to succeed, and we want our entire parish to succeed. The most important part of this public-private partnership is the public’s input, and I encourage our citizens to provide their input in this process.”
The Metropolitan Council approved a plan that assists private developers in bringing a new entertainment arena to LSU and envisions the city working to bring a convention hotel to the River Center and enhancing the outdoor stadium possibilities at Memorial Stadium. The ExxonMobil Cooperative Endeavor Agreement approved by the Metropolitan Council provides that sales and use taxes collected with proposed Advanced Recycling and Ultra-Pure Isopropyl Alcohol units will go to public projects in Metropolitan Council Districts 2, 5, 6, 7, and 10 (districts close to the ExxonMobil facility) and to Southern University, the East Baton Rouge Parish Public School System, and to addressing drainage projects and blight reduction in East Baton Rouge Parish.
Mayor Broome extends gratitude to all stakeholders involved in advancing these transformative initiatives and looks forward to their positive impact on Baton Rouge’s future.
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