BATON ROUGE - Local leaders and residents gathered Monday for a ribbon-cutting at the newly renovated Alsen Park playground.

The event marked a major neighborhood upgrade in the historic Alsen community in District 2. The playground is on Old Rafe Meyer Road.

The upgraded park has new playground equipment, 600 feet of new sidewalks and a new pavilion.

Attendees at Monday's grand opening enjoyed snowballs and community planting activities as children explored the new space.

Councilman Anthony Kenney emphasized that investing in neighborhood spaces is key to helping families gather and communities grow.

"I encourage you all to tell the story about the amazing improvements we are doing in North Baton Rouge and the Baker community. A lot of people always say what is not happening, but when I walk up to this beautiful park, that's the story we need to put out there," Kenney said.