Latest news with #CityParkConservancy
Axios
26-06-2025
- General
- Axios
Renderings: New Orleans City Park's $400 million plan
New Orleans City Park unveiled a master plan Wednesday that will take the city's largest public space into the next two decades. Why it matters: It could take up to $400 million to implement, says City Park Conservancy president and CEO Rebecca Dietz. The big picture: Many of the projects focus on making the park easier to use while adding access to nature. Some of the big ideas... 💦 Skim pool: A very shallow water feature with misters where children and families can play. 🧺 Amenity center: An elevated and covered treehouse that can be used for gatherings and as an event space. ✨ Artistic light installations: Adding lights under the overpasses to make them safer and more of an attraction. 🛝 Children's nature play area: A new playground with a sandpit, misters, logs and natural elements. 🚲 Pedestrian plaza: This would partially convert the traffic circle around NOMA into a pedestrian plaza and biking/walking path. 🛹 Wheel park for skateboarders, BMX bikers and roller skaters. 🌳 Better walking trails, scenic overlooks, lagoon crossovers and improved outdoor gathering spaces. Zoom in: The plan is going to take years to implement, Dietz told the crowd gathered at Wednesday's unveiling. The park is starting now with fixing bathrooms, water fountains, sidewalks and sewer lines. Other priorities include improving way-finding signage and developing test plots for native plants. Zoom out: Park leaders have already started applying for grants to fund the plan. They are pursuing state and federal money but will rely heavily on grants from private foundations and donors, Dietz said. The park also plans to launch a fundraising campaign. Catch up quick: The City Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that began managing the park in the 2022, is creating a roadmap for the next 20 to 25 years. The last plan, approved after Hurricane Katrina's devastation in 2005, focused on the southern half of the 1,300-acre park. This one focuses on the northern half: Couturie Forest, the former golf courses, the lagoons and the acreage on the lakeside of Interstate 610. The process started in 2023 and was expected to finish last year. Yes, but: The planning was put on hold after pushback over the future of Grow Dat Youth Farm. Grow Dat and the park eventually reached a long-term agreement, and the park scrapped plans to relocate the youth farm to make room for a new road. City Park then rebooted its planning process with more voices involved, including Grow Dat staffers and a youth committee. The ideas in the new master plan came from a series of community meetings with hundreds of attendees. What's next: The two boards that govern the park will vote on the plan at their August meetings.
Axios
25-06-2025
- General
- Axios
New Orleans City Park wants to add nature play area, "grand" water feature
New Orleans City Park leaders will unveil the park's new master plan on Wednesday. The big picture: Plans include a children's play area and a shallow reflecting pool, City Park Conservancy President and CEO Rebecca Dietz tells Axios New Orleans. The water feature is meant to be a "grand entrance" to the park near Dreyfous and Marconi drives. It will be on the site of the former pool that closed in the 1960s rather than integrating. "This feels to us like an opportunity to welcome everyone in the community back to enjoy water in the park," Dietz says. The specifics will be worked out in the design phase, Dietz says, and the timeline will depend on funding. Zoom in: The ideas came from a series of community meetings with hundreds of attendees. The plan also includes elevated overlooks (hills!), fields with native plants and walking trails, Dietz says. Plus, there are new boathouses and sports fields, along with better access to the islands and lagoons. Restrooms, water fountains, parking, shade, trashcans, way-finding signs and other "givens" will be priorities throughout the park too, she says. What she says: The plan will be "somewhat transformational without changing the backbone of City Park, which is already so special to so many people," Dietz says. Zoom out: Residents will be able to weigh in Wednesday at two public meetings at the Pavilion of the Two Sisters in City Park. The meetings are at 11:30am and 6pm. The same information will be presented at both. RSVP. Catch up quick: The City Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that began managing the park in the 2022, is creating a roadmap for the next 20 to 25 years. The last plan, which was approved after Hurricane Katrina's devastation in 2005, focused on the southern half of the 1,300-acre park. This one focuses on the northern half: Couturie Forest, the golf courses, the lagoons and the acreage on the lakeside of Interstate 610. The process started in 2023 and was expected to finish last year. Yes, but: The planning was put on hold after pushback over the future of Grow Dat Youth Farm. Grow Dat and the park eventually reached a long-term agreement, and the park scrapped plans to relocate the youth farm to make room for a new road. City Park then rebooted its planning process with more voices involved, including Grow Dat staffers and a youth committee. By the numbers: The plan will cost millions to implement. Dietz said the park will pursue federal money when available, but will rely heavily on grant money from private foundations and donors. The funding will guide the timeline and which elements are prioritized, she said. What's next: The two boards that govern the park will vote on the plan at their August meetings. Go deeper
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
26 years later, advocates still hope for bus crash memorial in City Park
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Darrell Mathieu remembers how he found out. 'I was working when I received a page from my wife telling me there was an emergency,' Mathieu recalls of that morning on May 9, 1999, when a tour bus veered of I-610 and crashed. The bus was taking a group of people to the Mississippi coast for a day of gambling and fun. Mathieu's mother was on board. It was also Mother's Day. 'I had plans to take her to lunch at a later date,' Mathieu said. Instead he learned that his mother was one of the 22 people killed in the crash. Grow Dat Youth Farm reaches location agreement with City Park Conservancy 'My mother went through the front windshield,' Mathieu said. 'She was dead upon impact.' The crash led to stricter regulations for bus drivers and improved crash requirements for large busses. There's also hope that there will soon be a memorial to remember the victims near the crash site in New Orleans' City Park. The crash site can easily be seen from the park. Locating the memorial there would provide a safe place for people to safely be close to the scene. 'Let's make it happen. What's taking so long?' Royd Anderson told WGNO News. Anderson is a film maker and already released a documentary on the crash in 2019. That same year, he began leading the effort to have the memorial placed in the park. Big Bass Fishing Rodeo to return to New Orleans for 76th year Anderson says the memorial would cost less than $4,000 and would be paid for using private donations. He adds that there's no doubt about the need. 'This was the worst vehicular accident in Louisiana history. 22 people died,' he said. WGNO News reached out to City Park to see about allowing the memorial. The park's managing group, the City Park Conservancy, is currently working on a new master plan to address a long list of goals and improvements for the park. We were given this written responds from the CPC. 'City Park Conservancy (CPC) is deeply mindful of the significance of the tragic Mother's Day bus crash that occurred on I-610 in 1999. We understand the importance of commemorating events that have profoundly impacted our community, and we are aware of the recent interest in installing a memorial near the edge of City Park, close to the site of the incident. CPC is in the final stages of completing a comprehensive City Park Plan that will guide future improvements throughout the Park. The area in proximity to the crash on I-610 is included in this planning process and is expected to undergo renovations and improvements informed by extensive community input. Once the design phase is complete for this area, CPC will have a clearer understanding of how and where historical markers or memorials can be thoughtfully and respectfully integrated into the landscape. We appreciate the community's interest and engagement and will continue to consider all proposals in a deliberate and inclusive manner as the plan progresses.' Anderson could know in a matter of weeks if he'll be allowed to place the memorial in the park. The new master plan will be available for revue on June to know for race weekend at Kansas Speedway Celebrating Goodwill Week with good work being done 26 years later, advocates still hope for bus crash memorial in City Park NOLA Gold Rugby puts heroes on the field at the Shrine on Airline Gen Z drinking less because they're broke, Dutch study says Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
