Rathborne Park upgrade to begin this month

Lighted fields, pavilion, exercise pad in planned $647K addition

Calling it a long overdue project for Luling, Cory Savoie praised St. Charles Parish moving ahead with expanding Rathborne Park.

“We’ve really struggled with park facilities in the Mimosa Park area,” said Savoie, a former member of the Mimosa Booster Club’s board of directors.

Once used school grounds in the area had become increasingly unavailable in recent years with increased security, he said. “It has severely restricted the amount of playground that the kids have,” Savoie added.

The parish council recently awarded the $647,070 contract to Frickey Brothers Construction of Paradis at its Dec. 12 meeting. Civil & Environmental Consulting Engineers designed the project.

Parks and Recreation Director Duane Foret said they’ve been saving money for the project since 2010. The total includes federal grant money and parish dollars for capital improvements, as well as a donation for a batting cage from the Mimosa Booster Club that is also part of the expansion.

“We are just very happy to get this project underway,” said Foret, who also thanked Parish President Larry Cochran and the council who stood by the project. “I believe it is having a tremendous impact on the community for which it serves. We are extremely excited about it.”

The project’s second phase includes a baseball field, a basketball court, bleachers, a pavilion, picnic tables, bike racks and a batting cage, Foret said. It also will include two fitness stations or pads similar to those in East and West Bank Bridge parks.

Work is scheduled to begin this month and be completed in June, he said.

Foret said the project area being the home of the Mimosa Booster Club “is significant and impactful.”

The lighted fields with baseball, softball and football will be beneficial to an area that has “many times struggled for gym space.” He added the lighted basketball court will help, especially with practice space also being hard to get when the season starts.

The planned fitness station will feature equipment for exercising.

The expansion will add to the park’s existing amenities, which includes  a walking track, child’s playground equipment and small pavilions, he said.

The project also calls for drainage work and connectivity.Foret said the 12-acre area is on the south end of Lakewood Drive.

The first phase of work was done in 2009, serving the subdivision in the Lakewood area that has substantially grown in recent years.

The parish’s most recent recreational work of this size was the $880,000 renovation of Ormond Park, which included parish and private funding, that was completed in 2014.