New Orleans focuses on riverfront ahead of the 2025 Super Bowl
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Audubon's plan includes places to gather and eat at a riverfront park. Rendering: Courtesy of Audubon Nature Institute
Audubon Nature Institute proposed a $30 million plan this week to create what leaders say will be one of the country's longest riverfront parks.
- It's the latest project in recent years aimed at developing the downtown portion of the riverfront in New Orleans.
Why it matters: New Orleans is hosting the Super Bowl in 2025, and Mayor LaToya Cantrell says one of her priorities is getting the riverfront ready for the influx of tourists.
Driving the news: Audubon's plan includes converting the Governor Nicholls and Esplanade Avenue wharves into open-air spaces that can host community events.
- The project will create a contiguous 2.25-mile walkable and bike-friendly park from Bywater to the Warehouse District, Audubon says.
What they're saying: "The city started to open up the riverfront years ago with the 1984 World’s Fair and this project is the final link to create a walkable and usable riverfront that will benefit the entire community," Ron Forman, Audubon Nature Institute president and CEO, said in a statement.
What's next: Aububon has to secure the funding for the project.
- Audubon has secured $15 million in funding, Forman told NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune, and was seeking help from the city for the rest. Cantrell on Wednesday said while she supports the idea of revitalizing the riverfront, it would be premature to commit to a "funding source or level of funding" for the Audubon project.
- The proposed plan also has to be approved by city officials. If approved, construction could begin in August 2024.
Zoom out: The last big redevelopment push was in 2017 when former mayor Mitch Landrieu and others outlined plans for $500 million in projects along the riverfront.
- Audubon started planning the riverfront project shortly after, with early ideas for a Ferris wheel and amphitheater drawing criticism from residents, according to NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune.
State of play: Other recent riverfront projects include:
- The Audubon Aquarium and Audubon Insectarium reopened last month after a $34 million renovation that includes a new two-story entrance facing the river.
- Woldenberg Park got a $7 million upgrade this year, with redesigned landscaping and electrical infrastructure.
- The former World Trade Center reopened in 2021 as the Four Seasons hotel with a hot new restaurant from Chef Alon Shaya, Miss River.
- The Canal Street ferry terminal reopened earlier this year after a $43.5 million makeover.
- Spanish Plaza reopened in 2019 after undergoing a $7.5 million renovation that included new pavers and a bigger fountain.
- Crescent Park, with its so-called "Rusty Rainbow" pedestrian bridge, fully opened in 2015 after a $31.2 million investment.
- The Riverwalk reopened in 2014 after a $70 million rebranding.
Worth noting: The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center also is moving forward with an entertainment district along the riverfront that may include a Topgolf facility, United Soccer League stadium, a Civil Rights museum, shopping, a hotel, a movie theater and housing. See more renderings.
Meanwhile, plans for the former Navy facility have stalled. Developer Joe Jaeger owns the blighted property and told the Bywater Neighborhood Association earlier this year that he is still seeking funding to convert the building into housing.
- Jaeger last year sold the Market Street Power Plant to investors but will stay involved, according to media reports. The group envisions transforming the vacant and blighted building into a space with "entertainment, retail, hotel, restaurant and creative office space."
- But, the space is still vacant.