Baton Rouge High neighbors getting construction issues resolved

Published Jun 26, 2012 at 3:00 pm (Updated Jun 26, 2012)

As Baton Rouge Magnet High School nears completion of its $58.2 million renovation and expansion project, residents on nearby Ogden Drive are keeping a close eye on dirt or mud falling on their street and clogging drains. Residents recently got their Metro Council representative, Councilwoman Tara Wicker, involved in clearing out the parking that was occurring on their one-way street and sometimes partially blocking driveways and impeding traffic. Even though the renovation of the 86-year-old campus is overseen by the East Baton Rouge Parish School System, Wicker says she and the city-parish Department of Public Works contacted the general contractor, MAPP Construction, about subcontractors' errant parking on the street. "They couldn't get out" of their driveways, Wicker says of residents. Parking then became a city police matter: "I do believe some tickets were issued," Wicker says. With the parking issue on Ogden resolved, Wicker says she still gets notice about landfill from the construction site falling and filling in the drainage ditch. But most complaints have been resolved. "We're out there every day inspecting the work," says Carey Chauvin, a building official with the Public Works Department. "Just like we would if you're building a house." In a little more than a month's time, the landfill and parking issues could be nothing more than picayune; school is scheduled to begin Aug. 8, and some 1,300 students will begin classes at Baton Rouge High. Wicker says contractors will be out of the way: "They should be ready the first day of school." —Adam Pearson