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The City of Central and the Central Community School System have signed an agreement for the city to purchase 2.73 acres of land located in the heart of the city. Mayor Wade Evans, Mayor Pro Tempore Aaron McKinney, School Superintendent Dr. Jason Fountain, and CCSS Board President Roxanne Atkinson took a ceremonial photo to celebrate the signing of the purchase agreement between the City of Central and the Central Community School System for property to construct the City of Central's administration building and City Hall. Nineteen years after becoming a city, the two entities were able to agree on the site. The 2.73-acre tract will help anchor the city's Mainstreet 2030 vision and will become the hub for community events and governmental business. The Mainstreet 2030 plan encompasses eight hundred acres, and the mayor is excited to be able to collaborate with the school system to get this done. Mayor Evans acknowledges the foundation built by our early leaders to get our city on a firm footing through the privatization model. Central encompasses 62.8 square miles and continues to improve the methods and processes for how the city’s services are delivered. The construction of the new building will allow the city to combine all departments under one roof and collaborating with the school system allows our citizens to park in one spot to deal with either of the governing bodies. The new building will also house an East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court office to better serve the people in the northern part of the Parish. "This building and this corner will be the anchor of our downtown for generations to come", Evans said. The city has signed a contract with Grace Hebert Architects to design the building. The building will complement the new school administration building but will be more architecturally defined as a city hall. The large columns are a defining feature and will be prominently facing Sullivan Road. "I want to thank the city council for seeing the overall vision, and voting to move this process forward", Evans said. Former Senator Bodi White has secured three million dollars in funding to help bring this project to life. Mayor Evans acknowledges the many significant contributions White made in Central's nineteen years, saying, "Bodi has not only been a strong advocate for our great city, but he has helped secure funding to accomplish many of the improvements that the citizens see happening. My appreciation for what he has done for this city and the future generations of people in Central is undeniable." The mayor hopes to break ground by the end of the second quarter of 2024.
