BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — Demolition has begun at the site of the former Plank Road Shopping Center. That includes the site where the Bella Noche nightclub once operated, at 8190 Plank Road.

The property is owned by the Baton Rouge Airport and was purchased in December of 2023, according to airport officials.

The airport said the contractor was given notice to proceed with the demolition earlier this month.

BTR added that it did not want the property to be vacant and deteriorating while work on the design is ongoing, so they initiated the demolition.

The demolition is part of a runway safety project. BTR said the purpose of the project is to construct a standard 1000-foot safety area or grass overrun for Runway 13/31.

Completion of this project will ensure that the runway m

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