September 2019 Cover story

COVER STORY

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k c i t S d e R ocial!

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COVER STORY

The former electric company building was vacant for many years and was scheduled for demolition when Lay’s group stepped in with a proposal to save it. The renovation preserved and enhanced what some consider to be one of the coolest buildings in Baton Rouge.

The new boutique entertainment center in Baton Rouge is something special.

By Evan Henerson

H

is ten boutique lanes have been engaging visitors on a nightly basis since mid-April, but W. Robert Lay is fairly certain that the folks from Brunswick who helped bring it all to life, will be forever after screening his calls.

“I hear that there’s a picture of our install in Brunswick’s headquarters,” said Lay, the owner of Red Stick Social in Baton Rouge, LA. “It was probably one of their most challenging installs. We really value the engineers who handled it. They did a hell of a job, but I don’t think [Brunswick’s new products director] Jay Saladino is going to want to hear from me ever again.”

Lay punctuates this last line with a laugh, and Saladino – who talks to Lay regularly – emphasizes that he is always delighted to get a Red Stick Social call. “Just like any of our other projects, sometimes we have to get creative,” said Saladino. “This one made us think outside the box. Now we’re W. Robert Lay, owner of Red Stick Social, supervised the renovation of the 100-year-old building working on multiple projects like this.” during its overhaul IBI

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The install? Bien sûr not a cakewalk. Engineers and construction crews had to maneuver those ten lanes and string pin machines across two levels of a 103-year old historic building. The available space required shortening the size of the lanes and the approaches to make sure everything fit

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comfortably. Brunswick worked with the development’s architect, Weinstein Nelson, and there was plenty of time to make sure that everything proceeded smoothly, said Saladino.

It may not have been easy, but innovative projects are worth the labor and the headaches, particularly when the outcome is as magnifique as the 30,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor venue in Baton Rouge’s Electric Depot campus has turned out to be.

Located between the city’s Mid City and downtown areas, the former Entergy power plant is at the intersection of 15th and Government Street. The historic building that now houses Red Stick Social once powered the city’s first streetcar and helped Baton Rouge morph from an agricultural city to a thriving industrial town. A century later, the Entergy buildings had fallen into disuse and were donated to the East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Agency. A $20 million redevelopment of the six acre site paved the way for the newly created Electric Depot campus which would include apartments, restaurants, offices, a coffee house, a yoga studio, and Red Stick Social is the anchor tenant. The center is a site for all kinds of meet-ups, whether one arrives to hear live music, mingle at a private or corporate event, take in the views from the rooftop bar or – when the weather permits – enjoy the outdoor green space. Baton Rouge is a college town in the midst of LSU terrain, making the site a destination for gaming and sports-watching.

With bowling options available at different venues in the city, Red Stick Social is courting social rather than

COVER STORY

league bowlers. “It’s not a bowling center. It’s a place for a night out,” said Saladino. “So people come there and they’re going to eat, they’re going to drink, they’re going to bowl;

they’re going to have fun with their friends, and then go home.”

“We call ourselves a boutique entertainment center,” added Lay. “We’re more heavy food and beverage, heavy alcohol, but we do welcome folks under 21. I don’t want to say we’re a one-stop shop, but we offer a very socially engaging experience. We can offer something for pretty much anybody to have a good time and enjoy themselves with a group of people.”

The former power plant building had sat vacant for many years and was scheduled for a date with the wrecking ball when Lay’s group stepped in with a proposal to save it. The renovation preserved and enhanced what some consider to be one of the coolest buildings in Baton Rouge.

The renovation left much of the building’s high warehouse windows and steel fixtures intact and some conversation pieces were kept in place. Upon entering Red Stick Social, visitors can look up and see a 20ton gantry crane looming over the lobby.

“We have a lot of exposed brick, steel, glass and concrete. It’s a very industrial turn-of-the-century type building,” said Lay. “All of the original features are still there. When you walk into a Dave & Buster’s or a Main Event, you know what you’re getting yourself into. When you continued on page 30...

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walk into this, you’re like, ‘Wow I didn’t expect that.’”

Lay is a Shreveport native who lives and works in Atlanta, checking in on Red Stick Social every couple of weeks. Never much of a bowler growing up, he nonetheless recognizes the social aspect of the sport.

“I’ve seen how bowling has come back into the mainstream,” he said.

“It’s a great social game. Anybody can do it at any age, and it attracts

all the different socio-economic backgrounds. It’s a great kind of opportunity for people to have a really good time and spend time together, and you can do it inside.”

“We opened in April which is kind of a weird time when there’s not a lot going on in terms of special events,” Lay added. “Now that we’re getting into football season and with the weather getting right, we’re really looking forward to hosting some cool special events that use both the inside and outside of our campus.” ❖

Evan Henerson is a features and lifestyle journalist who lives in Los Angeles. His work has appeared in TV Guide, American Theatre, Orange Coast and the Los Angeles Daily News where he was a staff writer and critic for nine years.

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