NEW ORLEANS — On Wednesday, October 3 from 6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., Audubon Commission will host the first of several public meetings to provide an opportunity to comment and provide feedback on the plan for Connecting the Crescent. The meeting will be held in the KIPP Leadership Primary Gymnasium, 2300 St. Claude Avenue.
Harnessing the creative vision of Reinventing the Crescent, the Port of New Orleans and the City are working with Audubon Commission to convert the Esplanade Avenue and Governor Nicholls Street wharves into public park space.
Audubon is seeking feedback from the community to help frame a vision for the park space based on research, public meetings and input. Park enthusiasts, locals and visitors are encouraged to participate in this important planning process and will be provided many different opportunities to voice priorities, including community input sessions and a public engagement website with regular updates.
Connecting the Crescent will create one of the largest contiguous riverfront parks in the nation. The project will expand the connection from Crescent Park in the Bywater neighborhood to Spanish Plaza at the foot of Canal Street.
"Transforming the last two industrial wharves will result in nearly three miles of open space, connecting Crescent Park to the Moonwalk, and will provide the community exceptional access to the riverfront,” said Audubon Commission President J. Kelly Duncan.
Audubon has agreed to operate this space as a public park, consistent with its mission, and is partnering with Eskew + Dumez + Ripple and Manning Architects, both widely recognized architectural firms known for planning projects with a dedication to community outreach, to design the space with a total budget of $15 million provided by the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, New Orleans & Co. and Audubon Nature Institute, with assistance from the Port of New Orleans.
The community feedback phase will begin October 3 with the first in a series of meetings. The process will include a public engagement website, data collection, discussion of programming alternatives that address recent nearby riverfront improvements, a review of comparative analysis of other successful waterfronts worldwide, concept development, submission of a final plan, approval of that plan, and a design and construction bidding process.
Visit connectingthecrescent.org for latest updates, specific details on the planning process and to give feedback.
