On Monday, June 1, BREC, the Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, invites the public to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for BREC's Forest Community Park, 13900 S. Harrell's Ferry Rd., located just south of Millerville Rd. and Interstate 12. The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. in the grassy area in the center of the park where the road splits to a one-way loop.

A community park provides multiple recreation programs and facilities for the whole family. These parks are usually in the range of 25-50 acres in size, with access intended to provide recreational opportunities beyond those supplied by local neighborhood parks. BREC has already opened two community parks, Anna T. Jordan Community Park and City-Brooks Community Park. Howell Community Park will be opening this summer.

The plan for the Forest Community Park was a result of many public meetings and brainstorming sessions with local residents and user groups. Once completed, the park will feature improvements that redefine the vehicular and pedestrian circulation through the park. The work will include improvements to the existing baseball/softball fields and playground, relocation of the existing dog park, a new fishing pond, new jogging/walking trails and a new spray pad. A spray pad is an interactive water play area with sensors that activate the water spray features. Unlike a pool, a spray pad has no standing water. Additionally, there will be three new concrete tennis courts added to the existing facility, realignment of parking lots, site grading, drainage and lighting.  

Forest Park is one of 12 community parks developed through funding from the Imagine Your Parks property tax approved by parish voters in November 2004. In all, the tax will fund $70.5 million in park construction projects, along with an additional $45 million reserved for maintenance and operations of the parks. During the construction process, the recreation center, ball fields, dog park and tennis center will be closed to the public.  

J. Reed Constructors will handle the $3.8 million construction project. The landscape architecture group is Brown Danos Land Design. Daniel T. Calongne & Associates are the electrical engineers for the project and ABMB Engineers, Inc. are the civil engineers.