New Orleans City Park visitors want more nature and easier access to it
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New Orleans City Park is the city's largest green space. Photo: Courtesy of City Park Conservancy
New Orleans City Park leaders are looking for ways to make it easier to get around the park and take a walk in nature — two top changes users say they'd like to see.
Why it matters: About 16 million people visit the park annually, according to the City Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that oversees the park.
- The group is creating a master plan that will guide development for the next 100 years.
The big picture: The 1,300-acre park spans from Mid-City to Lakeview and is the city's largest public green space.
- The previous master plan from 2005 focused on rebuilding the southern half of the park, according to Randy Odinet, the vice president and chief planning officer at the conservancy.
- The new plan focuses on the northern half of the park: Couturie Forest, the golf courses, the lagoons and the acreage on the lakeside of Interstate 610.
What's happening: Park leaders and landscape architecture firm Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates have two key takeaways from the initial user survey, Odinet says.
Improved access: Users want easier and safer ways to get around the park on foot, bike and in vehicles.
- Leaders want to make it easier to visit more than one thing, Odinet tells Axios, such the Louisiana Children's Museum and Storyland.
- Officials are also looking at creating a promenade that would run through the park and create protected areas for bicyclists and pedestrians.
More nature: Visitors want more access to nature, including shaded woody areas, lagoons and water features.
- People want to "get outside and have a comfortable place to walk around," Odinet says, a request that was loudly voiced during COVID.
Zoom in: Leaders are revisiting the idea of the "Wooded Island" proposed in the 1933 master plan.
- This would create a 180-acre nature area in a space that includes Couturie Forest, Scout Island, property along Harrison Avenue, ball fields and golf courses, Odinet says. For reference, Couturie Forest is roughly 20 acres.
- "The concept has eroded over time, a lot by golf," he tells Axios. "We're trying to test this concept and see if this is something the public is excited about."
By the numbers: The plan could result in about $200 million in initiatives to implement over the next 20 years, City Park CEO Cara Lambright told NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune.
- The plan will be funded by earned income (events and park venues), government grants and fundraising, Odinet says.
- The city's millage supports ongoing operations and equipment needs.
What's next: The City Park Conservancy has a town hall meeting Wednesday night to get feedback on initial proposals for the park.
- The meeting, which will be in the auditorium at Warren Easton Charter High School from 5:30-7:30pm, is come and go. Attendees will be able to look at models of the park and ask questions.
- The final master plan is expected to be presented in December 2024, according to the conservancy.
See the schedule for upcoming park public meetings
