New BR Midcity outdoor food court using shipping containers

The Advocate (use incognito)



Cameron Jackson may be young but he has a lot of big ideas.

And the former college athlete has decided to bring one of them to Baton Rouge, in a part of town most developers don't take seriously for innovative business ideas.

"I saw an opportunity when other people didn't," the 24-year-old says about his plan to transform an undeveloped section of land across from Baton Rouge General Medical Center's Mid City campus into an outdoor food court featuring eateries housed in re-purposed industrial shipping containers.



Jackson's initial concept was modeled after outdoor food courts he had seen in cities like Dallas and Houston where food trucks are clustered at parks where patrons can sit, eat and socialize. But recent travels to Jamaica inspired his twist on the idea: using shipping containers instead of food trucks.

"They're more durable, have cheaper overhead cost to put in operation and it's more eco-friendly," he said.

Jackson's Millennial Park will be located at 3817 Florida Blvd. It'll initially feature one shipping container restaurant he'll manage specializing in Caribbean-style food and fried turkey wings, another recycled container will serve as restrooms for the site, which will have outdoor seating capacity for 100 people and a small parking lot.

Jackson's development will be in the shadow of C.J.'s Barbershop, the popular business his grandfather has operated for years on Florida Boulevard.

His father, Curtis Jackson, said it took seeing his son's vision slowing coming to life for the family and others to fully grasp what Cameron Jackson is trying do. Curtis Jackson added that he and his wife had no issue jumping on board when their son first approached them with it given how serious he was about making it happen.