Holden Unveils Plans For Tourist Attraction: "Audubon Alive" (Watch The Videos)
by Robb Hays - WAFB Channel 9 (CBS) (excerpt)

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - Tuesday, Mayor-President Kip Holden unveiled plans for "Audubon Alive," a proposed $300 million tourist attraction to be located on the Mississippi River in downtown Baton Rouge.

An economic impact study says the facility could draw nearly 500,000 visitors per year. The Audubon Institute is the organization that operates several attractions in New Orleans, including the Audubon Zoo and the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas.

According to sources close to the plan, the proposed attraction will include up to seven venues.

The attractions will be themed around animals and nature. There will be research and teaching facilities included in the attraction, sources say. Funding for the attraction is part of a nearly one-billion dollar tax proposal that Holden hopes to submit to voters for approval in November.

Other items in the tax proposal include building a new facility to house Baton Rouge police and the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office, red light synchronization, flood prevention, an expansion of the Baton Rouge River Center, and other items.

(Click on story title link above to watch the videos.)