Moncus Park:  From Grassroots to Greenspace

After organizing a successful, community-wide, years-long grassroots campaign to save the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s 100-acre “Horse Farm” property from commercial development in 2005, EB Brooks joined the new non-profit, Lafayette Central Park, formed in 2013 to oversee the planning, development, and operation of a new public park, and has served as the Executive Director since 2015.  She has managed the many facets of this complex project for nearly 15 years with very limited resources, taking it from a grassroots idea to raising more than $23MM towards Phase 1 of the master plan’s construction, which is currently underway and includes an amphitheater, playground, splash pad, Veterans memorial, dog park, 4-acre lake, 2+ miles of trails, and millions of dollars in infrastructure investments.  It is scheduled to fully open to the public in 2021.

Elizabeth “EB” Brooks | Executive Director | Moncus Park

In 2005, while finishing bachelor’s degrees at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL) in Sustainable Community Development and Spanish, EB and her best friend, Danica Adams, learned that UL’s 100-acre “Horse Farm” property was threatened by commercial development. They immediately launched a grassroots campaign to “Save the Horse Farm” for future generations to enjoy as a public park. 

After more than three years of organizing weekly community meetings, it was clear that UL and the City were committed to working together to find a win-win solution to save the property as a park.  EB took the opportunity to move to Houston in 2008 to serve under Mayor Bill White as an inaugural City Hall Fellow, then to Austin in 2009 to pursue dual masters at the University of Texas-Austin in Community & Regional Planning, and Urban Design, while working at the Center for Sustainable Development.

In 2012, the City purchased the 100-acre property from UL, and the non-profit Lafayette Central Park, Inc., was formed shortly after to develop and operate this new community park.  EB returned home from working Texas in early 2013 to join this new venture as the Director of Planning & Design, and now serves as the Executive Director, working with the board of directors to raise over $23.5MM towards the park’s development. 

She has been recognized as one of Acadiana’s “Top 20 Under 40,” a “Rising Young Business Leader,” a “Person of the Year,” and has been honored by the Louisiana chapters of the American Society of Landscape Architects and the American Institute of Architects.  EB is a member of The705 Young Professionals organization, the Freetown Port-Rico Coterie, and graduated from “Leadership Lafayette” Class 27. 

NOTE: This meeting is FREE and will be conducted totally online via ZOOM.

The meeting ZOOM link and login information will be sent to you with in your confirmation registration email.

All are welcome to attend this meeting (members and non-members/guests).

MEETING AGENDA

5:30PM - 5:45PM | Introductions/Announcement/Acknowledgements

5:45PM - 6:45PM | Speaker Plus Q&A

6:45PM - 7:00PM | Announcement of Future Meetings/Events/Speakers & Training Opportunities

This meeting will count for 1.5 PDUs for PMI credential holders.

Talent Triangle: .50 PDUs "Leadership" - .50 PDUs "Strategic & Business Management" - .50 "Technical Project Management"

PDUs will be submitted for PMI Baton Rouge chapter members.

All other PMI credential holders are responsible for self-reporting PDUs.