A farm? Yes. A farm. An indoor farm. Cotton Street Farms – a top-five finalist last year and an entry in this year’s Louisiana Start Up Prize competition – is the brainchild of Michael Billings, a 35-year-old graduate of Caddo Magnet High School. Billings has bought a vacant building at 406 Cotton St.

The early response 'has been absolutely incredible,' said Jake Wood, the aquarium's director of marketing and public relations. 'We opened on a Wednesday in the middle of the day, and we were packed. We moved into the weekend, and we had lines that were wrapped around the building.'