BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Baton Rouge has agreed to a $4 million settlement in a legal battle regarding the construction of the River Center Branch Library in downtown Tuesday.
“The litigation regarding the construction of the River Center Branch Library has concluded successfully! City-Parish more than pleased with the mediated settlement of $4 million. These funds will cover the costs of mitigation and corrective measures taken to ensure the finished River Center Branch Library is as originally envisioned, as well as safe and welcoming. The settlement dollars received will also fully address the legal costs and expert consultants who analyzed and successfully outlined the steps required to safely complete construction and open the River Center Library in June of 2020. We appreciate the work of the East Baton Rouge Parish Library, the Parish Attorney’s Office, the contracted legal team, Walters, Papillion, Thomas, Cullens, LLC, and most importantly, the citizens of our parish for their patience and support.”
City-Parish Spokesperson Mark Armstrong
After years of construction, which included some delays due to structural issues in 2018, the 48,490-square-foot, four-floor library opened in 2020. The lawsuit was filed by the Parish Attorney’s Office in November 2018 after the City-Parish and the architect failed to negotiate a solution to the building’s structural issues, according to the mayor’s office in February 2019.
The library is located at 250 North Boulevard in downtown Baton Rouge.
