NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. 1. Name of Property Historic Name: Borden Dairy Other Names/Site Number: N/A Name of related multiple property listing: N/A 2. Location Street & Number: 4743 Florida Boulevard City or town: Baton Rouge State: LA County: East Baton Rouge Not for Publication: Vicinity: 3. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this nomination request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance: national state local Applicable National Register Criteria: A B C D ________________________________________________________________________________ Signature of certifying official/Title: Kristin Sanders, State Historic Preservation Officer Date Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register criteria. Signature of commenting official: Date Title: State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government 1 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Borden Dairy East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Name of Property County and State 4. National Park Certification I hereby certify that the property is: ___ entered in the National Register ___ determined eligible for the National Register ___ determined not eligible for the National Register ___ removed from the National Register ___other, explain: ___________________________ Signature of the Keeper Date of Action 5. Classification Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply.) X Private Public – Local Public – State Public – Federal Category of Property (Check only one box.) X Building(s) District Site Structure object Number of Resources within Property (Do not include previously listed resources in the count) Contributing Non-contributing 4 1 Buildings Sites Structures Objects 4 1 Total Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register: 0 6. Function or Use Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions.): INDUSTRY/manufacturing facility Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions.): VACANT/NOT IN USE 2 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Borden Dairy East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Name of Property County and State 7. Description Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions.): No style Materials: (enter categories from instructions.) foundation: concrete walls: concrete, brick, metal panel roof: concrete, asphalt, metal panel other: glass, wood Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style, method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has historic integrity.) ______________________________________________________________________________ Summary Paragraph The Borden Dairy manufacturing and distribution plant at 4743 Florida Boulevard, Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, is a large industrial facility constructed between 1942 and c. 1980s in a mixed heavy commercial/light-industrial zone in Baton Rouge’s Mid City neighborhood. The low-rise complex of buildings occupies a seven-acre site extending from Florida Boulevard northward to North Street and comprises 1) a 56,000 SF plant constructed in phases between 1942 and the 1970s (contributing); 2) a row of one-story warehouses situated along the site’s western boundary constructed between the 1950s and 1980s (contributing); and 3) a one-story service center at the rear of the site constructed c. 1980s (non-contributing). The 1950s and 1960s sections of the facility were designed by noted Baton Rouge architects A. Hays Town and Desmond-Miremont & Associates, respectively. The buildings were expanded and renovated over time as the company strived to keep pace with regional market demand. From 1942 until c. 2006, Borden Dairy manufactured and distributed milk and ice cream products at this location, and the company continued to use the rear of the property as a distribution center until early 2019. The primary Florida Boulevard facade (1942−59), which served as the company’s public face, is designed in the Colonial Revival style, while the remainder of the facility is distinctly industrial in appearance. The plant is currently vacant and has suffered from deferred maintenance and water intrusion due to partially collapsed roofs. Nevertheless, the property retains a high degree of exterior and interior integrity overall and remains clearly identifiable as a mid-20th century industrial facility. _____________________________________________________________________________ Narrative Description Setting and Site: The Borden Dairy manufacturing and distribution plant at 4743 Florida Boulevard, Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish, occupies a seven-acre site that fronts on Florida Boulevard to the south and terminates at North Street to the north. The plant was among the early developments along this typical post-World War II suburban commercial thoroughfare, which expanded significantly in the 1950s and 1960s. The surrounding neighborhood is primarily zoned heavy commercial/light industrial and is characterized by a mix of low-rise commercial buildings with spacious parking lots, e.g., auto parts stores and a self-storage facility; small- to mid-size industrial facilities; and single- and multi-family housing to the north. According to a 1960 Sanborn 3 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Borden Dairy East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Name of Property County and State Fire Insurance Map, this mixed-use character has changed little since the property’s period of significance (1942−1969) (Map 1). The buildings comprising the plant are set back from Florida Boulevard approximately eighty feet to accommodate a paved parking area for plant visitors. A painted-brick fence with a replacement wood gate marks a pedestrian entrance to the interior of the site. Chain-link fencing borders the property along the east and north boundaries, and a chain-link gate on the east side provides vehicular access from N. 48th Street. The N. 48th Street entrance served as the primary access point for delivery trucks onto the grounds, which are paved or shelled. There are no notable landscaping features. Main Plant – contributing (photos 1-20): The main plant is a complex arrangement of adjoining buildings and additions that can be broken down into two distinct areas: 1) a 1-story office building designed in the Colonial Revival Style (1942−59); and 2) a spacious one-story manufacturing and processing plant (1942−1970s). Throughout the facility are equipment remnants such as storage tanks and conveyor systems. The enclosed evolution diagram illustrates the plant’s four primary phases of construction, which are defined as follows: 1) 1942 – original plant construction; 2) 1959 – major renovation and expansion; 3) 1960s – additional north and westward expansion; 4) 1970s – additional northward expansion. Each phase is described below (Exhibit 5). 1942 (Phase I): The original 1942 construction, which is shown in red on the enclosed diagram, consists of the western half of the front office building and a portion of the manufacturing plant directly to the north. The architect of this phase is unknown. The office building exterior was designed in a “Southern” Colonial Revival style, Borden’s chosen look for all of its Louisiana plants “because Borden traditions of quality are as steadfast as the traditions of the South.”1 The building is brick masonry construction with an asphalt-shingle side-gable roof and wood-frame partitions. The primary Florida Boulevard façade features a painted-brick exterior, a highly detailed pedimented entrance portico with paired Tuscan columns, a one-light entrance door with sidelights and a fanlight transom, and 9/1 double-hung wood sash windows, which are intact but boarded over and have lost their painted-wood louvered shutters. The side gables are clad in lapped wood siding. A portion of the portico roof has collapsed. The large picture windows