Can Shreveport Common change downtown?

In May, Shreveport Common was honored in Washington as the Best Community Development in the country by the National Development Council. This is a big deal and puts downtown Shreveport at the head of the line against 56 other projects from cities big (Seattle, Wash.) and small (Brattleburg, Vt.) around the country.

Shreveport Common was successful for many reasons, from the partnerships that support it to the community it is creating. This award follows on the heels of other significant honors from MIT, the National Endowment for the Arts and state planning groups.

The area known as Shreveport Common is a nine-block section of what could be considered the westernmost fringe of downtown Shreveport’s Central Business District, an area rife with both opportunity and challenge. Many of the challenges are obvious and center around the blight created mainly by ill-kept properties. It is also an area with a storied history, beautiful buildings, space for new construction and an active community of residents and stakeholders. The nine blocks can be reinvigorated and reinvented by art and culture, and in fact, it is already happening. A short list of “wins” in Shreveport Common include the improvements to Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium and the promenade leading to it, the rehabilitation of the Central Fire Station and hose tower to the Central ARTSTATION and Kallenberg Artist’s Tower, the city’s acquisition of adjudicated properties including the old Arlington Hotel, the purchase of key properties within Shreveport Common by private owners, the opening of several art-related businesses, the success of the Texas Avenue Makers Fairs and a number of UNSCENE! and music events, significant planning for a community green space and transit hub, bike lanes, mixed use housing and more.

A market analysis of Shreveport Common showed there is the potential for making money on Shreveport Common projects, something that helps provide a peace of mind to developers considering options.

Shreveport Common seems tailormade for creative placemaking, a concept, according to the NEA that, “uses art and culture to animate public and private spaces, rejuvenate structures and streetscapes, improve local business viability and public safety, and bring diverse people together to celebrate, inspire, and be inspired.”

Formerly blighted and forlorn areas in Kansas City, Syracuse, New Orleans and a number of other locations are seeing impressive change using their art, culture, history and community, and downtown Shreveport can, too. The beauty of it is that while many cities are creating “faux” historic districts or experiences, everything about this portion of downtown is authentic, special, unique. Simply playing off this authenticity makes Shreveport Common something very special.

Without the push of the Shreveport Common vision and the opportunities provided by it, there would likely be very little change in much of the nineblock area and less incentive to do so.

This is where the strong partnerships come in, as part of “the village” intent on improving a community. Those improvements are varied and include repair of damaged buildings and adaptive reuse of them into residential and commercial spaces, apartments for both artists and non-, infrastructure improvements, continued collaboration with social service agencies, and demolition of non-historic spaces that pose safety concerns. That is a lengthy list, but local governments, businesses, property owners, nonprofits, developers, banks and others will have to stay engaged to create the desired outcomes.

We hope the National Development Council Award will spur even more interest in Shreveport Common by developers both local and not. It has been our experience that those from outside the area who come with no preconceived biases, notions or memories tend to be the first to jump on major projects. We welcome them, and we encourage local developers to take another look, too. Success is close, but it is never easy. But working together, Shreveport Common can go from award-winner to an art and culture enhanced community that strengthens downtown as a whole.

Liz Swaine is the executive director of the Downtown Development Authority. She can be reached at liz@downtownshreveport.com.

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