BATON ROUGE — Southern community leaders will meet for an annual conference this week in downtown Baton Rouge to discuss revitalizing downtown areas. 

The conference, Destination Downtown, will be held at Louisiana's Old State Capitol building from Wednesday through Friday. Anyone interested in learning about community revitalization can attend. Registration is accessible through the Destination Downtown website. 

The event is hosted in partnership with Louisiana Main Street, Main Street Arkansas, Mississippi Main Street Association and Main Street Alabama, bringing leaders from four states to discuss new approaches to downtown revitalization.

Destination Downtown will feature guest speaker presentations, breakout sessions, panel discussions and tours designed to provide communities with ideas.

Speakers include representatives from all four states' State Historic Preservation Offices and Departments of Transportation. 

“Strong downtowns are the heart of strong communities,” Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser said in a prepared statement. “When we invest in our historic buildings, support our small businesses and create places where people want to gather, we are investing in the future of our communities. Destination Downtown gives us an opportunity to bring some of the best and brightest Main Street leaders from across the region together to share what is working and take those ideas back home.”