City Park scraps 2 early ideas as it restarts master planning
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City Park is New Orleans' largest public green space. Photo: Courtesy of City Park Conservancy
New Orleans City Park is rebooting its master planning process this week under a new CEO and with more voices involved.
Why it matters: The original planning was put on hold earlier this year after pushback over the future of Grow Dat Youth Farm.
The big picture: The City Park Conservancy, which runs the park, hosts a public meeting at 6pm Wednesday at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral.
- The focus this time is to make sure the entire community is involved in guiding the plan for the park, said Rebecca Dietz, the new president and CEO.
- The conservancy now has a youth committee to offer ideas from younger people, which was one of the criticisms of the previous process.
Zoom in: Two early proposals are permanently off the table, Dietz told Stephanie Riegel with The Times-Picayune.
- Grow Dat Youth Farm will not relocate to make room for a new road.
- Portions of Bayou Oaks South Golf Course will not close or relocate for a "Wooded Island," which was originally proposed in the 1933 master plan.
How it works: Officials will hold several community meetings. See the schedule.
- The feedback will build on the previous input, research and planning, the park said in a statement.
- The goal is to create a master plan that will guide development for the next 100 years.
- In the latest statement, the park said the proposal will be "grounded in serving the greater good, addressing community needs, preserving historical and cultural context, enhancing environmental resiliency and ensuring a welcoming sense of place."
Between the lines: Justin Kray, president of the City Park for Everyone Coalition, told Verite he'd like to see acknowledgment in the master plan of the park's history as a plantation with enslaved people.
Zoom out: The 1,300-acre park spans from Mid-City to Lakeview and is the city's largest public green space. About 16 million people visit annually.
- The master plan from March 2005 focused on rebuilding the southern half of the park, Randy Odinet, the vice president and chief planning officer at the conservancy, previously told Axios.
- 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 next: The goal is to present a finalized proposal in June.
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