News BREC Celebrates the Completion of Freedom Heritage Trail with Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony

Baton Rouge, LouisianaJun 01, 2026BREC will celebrate the completion of the new multimodal Freedom Heritage Trail with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 2 from 10 a.m. to noon.  

The trail connects Memorial Stadium on Foss Street to Scotlandville Parkway via Monte Sano Avenue, creating a safer and more accessible route for pedestrians and cyclists while commemorating a significant chapter in Baton Rouge's civil rights history. 

The ceremony will take place at Memorial Stadium, 1702 Foss St., at the beginning of the trail. 

Residents, community partners, elected officials and supporters from across the parish are invited to attend and celebrate the project's completion. 

The Freedom Heritage Trail honors the area's role in the Civil Rights Movement and preserves the legacy of events that helped shape the fight for equality in Baton Rouge and beyond. 

In 1960, students at Southern University organized sit-ins at local businesses to protest segregation. The demonstrations led to arrests and threats of suspension for participating students. Inspired by their peers' actions, other students marched approximately three miles from the university to the Louisiana State Capitol, where they held a peaceful prayer service calling for equal rights and an end to segregation. 

The corridor also holds significance from the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott of 1953, one of the nation's earliest organized bus boycotts. Led by Rev. T.J. Jemison, the boycott challenged segregated seating practices and later served as inspiration for the Montgomery Bus Boycott led by Rosa Parks in 1955. 

Both historic events took place on or near what is now known as the Freedom Heritage Trail. 

"The Freedom Heritage Trail mimics the route that students of Southern University used to travel downtown during the protest for equality," said Jay Haynes, BREC Trail Planner. 

The trail runs from Scotlandville Parkway along Monte Sano Avenue to Memorial Stadium on Foss Street, utilizing residential streets, pedestrian crossings and trail connections to link important destinations throughout the area. The route connects the communities of Scotlandville, Southern University and the historic Boomtown area, helping preserve and highlight the significance of neighborhoods that played an important role in the city's development. 

“Many older residents remember the area near Exxon as Boomtown,” Haynes said. “With most of the residential homes gone now, this allows us to reclaim its green spaces.” 

The project is funded through a partnership between the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) and BREC, with support from a Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) grant. 

BREC also partnered with other companies, including ExxonMobil, which donated property along the route and provided access to land needed during construction, helping make the project possible. 

Planning and coordination for the trail took several years and involved extensive design work and collaboration with DOTD. Construction began in late 2024 and was completed in early 2026. 

In addition to recognizing the area's history, the trail provides several modern amenities designed to improve safety and accessibility, including: 

• Crosswalk traffic signals
• Rest stations
• Bicycle repair equipment 
• Safe pedestrian and bicycle access points 

The event will feature remarks from Interim BREC Superintendent Janet Simmons, Councilwoman Carolyn Coleman of District 10 and Councilman Anthony Kenney Jr. of District 2. 

Food, activities, and community engagement opportunities will be available before and after the ceremony, and attendees can explore portions of the Freedom Heritage Trail following the ribbon-cutting. 

"I'd like the community to know that this is one of the many efforts of the urban trails team to improve connectivity throughout the city, and we hope to continue it," said Haynes. 

The inauguration of the Freedom Heritage Trail represents more than a new BREC recreational amenity. It stands as a tribute to the determination, resilience and courage of the African American community members in Baton Rouge whose actions created lasting change for future generations.