Baton Rouge stepping it's tourism game up

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BATON ROUGE — The architect of Nashville's branding as "Music City" that resulted in a multibillion-dollar tourism boom plans to come to Baton Rouge to help transform downtown and modernize the aging Raising Cane’s River Center.

Butch Spyridon, who spent 32 years leading the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp, announced his intentions to return to Louisiana's capital city after serving as Executive Director of the Baton Rouge Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (now Visit Baton Rouge) before leaving for Nashville in 1991.

"I look forward to the opportunity to help this city achieve its own vision, its own dreams and its own opportunity," Spyridon said at a news conference Monday.

Mayor-President Sid Edwards said that it is a "defining moment in the capital region’s core economic and tourism development."

Edwards touted the $125 million in economic investment following last year's United States Bowling Congress Open Championships at the River Center as an example of increasing tourism success.

"We need so many more events like that," Edwards said.

Edwards added that the city-parish sought Spyridon as "the best...to lead that effort."


Spyridon, pending a Metro Council vote at next week's meeting, will be retained as an independent contractor who will work closely with the Metro Council, Visit Baton Rouge, the Downtown Development District’s Board of Directors and state and local partners.

Spyridon's work over the next two years will primarily focus on advancing a planned expansion and modernization of the River Center and the development of a full-service headquarter hotel.

"This is not an easy lift; this is not a quick lift," he said about the challenges the work to modernize downtown will have.

Last week, Spyridon's involvement in redeveloping the River Center was introduced at Metro Council.

Another proposal would authorize Mayor-President Edwards to execute a memorandum of understanding between the city-parish and its tourism agency Visit Baton Rouge. The MOU would establish the framework and guidance for Visit Baton Rouge to serve as the interim manager of River Center facilities.

“These two projects will elevate Baton Rouge’s competitiveness in the regional and national convention and event marketplace while strengthening economic development, programming and partnerships throughout downtown,” Mayor-President Edwards said.

The River Center expansion and a new headquarter hotel are central to revitalizing downtown, Edwards said. The plan will be guided by Plan Baton Rouge III and ongoing work with the River Center stakeholders.

Edwards credits Visit Baton Rouge for everything they do and will continue to do under the MOU.

"They are experts at what they do, and I want to put them in a position to do more of it," Edwards said on Monday.

Jill Kidder, the president and CEO of Visit Baton Rouge, said that her team's "local expertise and existing relationships will definitely keep River Center operations integrated with our broader marketing and sales efforts overall."

Kidder added Monday that her team will work to select a facility management firm to take over day-to-day operations once the contract expires at the end of this year.

Visit Baton Rouge, she said, will then provide local oversight like marketing and PR resources and serve as "a single point of accountability for the city-parish" as the search for a future developer to continue the momentum Spyridon and Visit Baton Rouge are set to begin.

"This step preserves continuity of operations and protects the economic value of the facilities during this transition time," Kidder said.