BATON ROUGE - Science textbooks left behind at the abandoned Eden Park Elementary School could have been repurposed, but they weren't.

State Representative C. Denise Marcelle believes that the school closure protocol of Eden Park Elementary was poorly handled by East Baton Rouge Parish Schools. On top of left-behind textbooks, the abandoned school sits vacant with no purpose, other than collecting debris, people's dumped trash and taking up space.

"Let's repurpose the building," Marcelle said. "Let's not just allow it to sit there blighted. So, I would call up on the school board to do what's necessary to make sure that even when they're not doing something with the property, that it be boarded up properly."

Nothing had changed since WBRZ visited the elementary school on Monday. The school was still unsecured with no boards or locks in sight. In a statement Monday, EBR Schools said they had boarded up the school on multiple occasions and would continue to monitor the site.

From the time Eden Park Elementary closed in 2021, about 120 crime calls have been made to the Baton Rouge Police Department within a 1,000-foot radius from the school's front door. One resident, Bradtisha Galmon, is moving out of the Eden Park neighborhood after seeing unwanted visitors come in and out of the school. Galmon feels unsafe and Marcelle, a former Eden Park resident as well, said she would feel unsafe, too.

"I probably would (move), that would probably be something I would consider," Marcelle said.

Marcelle grew up in the neighborhood of Eden Park and she passes the abandoned school every day on her way to work as a representative of District 61. She said she has seen people coming in and out of the property, a few kids playing ball and has never seen the school secured.

The state representative is frustrated by EBR Schools' response and the fact that they are "absolutely not a good neighbor" to the Eden Park community.

"We've got to start repurposing these properties and making sure these buildings remain in our neighborhoods," Marcelle said, repeating the need for EBR Schools to repurpose its closed school properties. "Because other than that, we're gonna have a vacant lot with high grass, trash and nobody's gonna monitor that ... But I grew up in this neighborhood, and I'm appalled at the fact that they have allowed it to stay in this condition."

Marcelle believes this problem falls into the hands of both EBR Schools Interim Superintendent Adam Smith and board members, wishing they would repurpose the property into something that would benefit the community instead of becoming a property that creates blight issues. Marcelle recommended the property be used for educational purposes, possibly as a location for an after-school program.

When Eden Park Elementary School was closed down, it was not expected by many in the community, including Marcelle, for the property to still be abandoned three years later.

"Three years is a bit long for me," Marcelle said on EBR Schools' lack of timeline and taking action. "When you close down a school, you need to have a plan in place and it needs to be in an efficient time manner in which to implement that plan; not just say we have a plan and (it be) five years later, and we're still looking at that same building. So, I would want to know what that plan is and what is the timeline."

EBR Schools said no windows of the school have been broken, but 10 classroom doors were open and four of them would be boarded up as of Tuesday evening. While the school system works to secure the property, it is unclear what will become of Eden Park Elementary — possibly repurposed, possibly lingering in the community even longer.