On Tuesday, September 18th , the School of Interior Design hosted an exhibit presentation of Baton Rouge’s Main Street Market Master Plan Study completed by current LSU interior design students. The presentation, held in the College of Art and Design Atrium, highlights the partnership between the School of Interior Design and its stakeholders in the Main Street Market Place Master Planning Initiative. The Main Street Market Place is also known as BREADA (Big River Economic & Agricultural Development Alliance).

“The students all worked together on the research and the proposal,” says Interior Design Interim Chair Phillip Tebbutt, “so there is one scheme, but different iterations as they met and were reviewed by all the interested parties or stakeholders.

Sarah Allee-Walsh, a senior interior design major from New Orleans says working on the BREADA Master Plan was a great learning experience she will never forget. “In studio, all of our projects are hypothetical so it was nice to work on a project that may be actualized. Meeting with the stakeholders made the project feel very real and allowed us to find out firsthand what they saw as the problems that we needed to address in our design solution.”

Logan Wheeler, a senior interior design major from Zachary, LA says not only did she enjoy working on the project tremendously, but she’s very excited about the possibility that the master plan will be implemented if the funding comes through. She adds that working on this project has not only been a huge addition to her portfolio, but that, in her view, it has benefited every party involved. “Ultimately this project has been an outreach for everyone. It has connected the student to the professional world, the school to the community, the community to the Main Street Market.”