NEW ORLEANS - The historic Canal Street corridor is getting a fresh push for further revitalization as local leader, Sandra Herman, kicks off Celebrate Canal, a nonprofit coalition of dedicated citizens focused on improving the historic commercial corridor.
The organization has gained significant support from influential community figures, including Gayle Benson, owner of the New Orleans Saints, along with GNO, Inc. and the Historic New Orleans Collection. In addition, the Celebrate Canal! Coalition collaborates with key city organizations including the City Planning Commission and the Downtown Development District. Together these stakeholders are seeking to both honor Canal Street’s rich cultural past while creating a vibrant, contemporary, welcoming urban space.
Founded in September 2024 after the City Planning Commission was tasked to conduct a survey focused on ways to improve Canal Street, the Celebrate Canal group is determined to see progress. The survey focused on historic preservation, pedestrian safety, retail attraction, and upper floor occupancy. Final consideration is planned for March 25 to explore key topics including transportation, commercial opportunities, and potential regulatory changes.
The Celebrate Canal! Coalition’s first projects will be a Champagne Stroll with the New Orleans Chamber and the Downtown Development District on Feb. 18, and “Windows on Canal” in partnership with Where y’Art Works to bring storefront windows to life in April based on the theme “Canal Menagerie”.
The iconic Canal Street thoroughfare serves as the traditional boundary between the French Quarter and the Central Business District and has long been considered a vital artery of New Orleans' commercial and cultural life. The street's rich history includes its role as home to some of the city's earliest department stores and theaters.
Urban planning experts say successful revitalization of historic commercial corridors typically requires sustained, multi-year investment and improvement projects by both public and private sectors. The Downtown Development District last year welcomed over 40 ground-floor establishments along Canal Street and Percy "Master P" Miller announced the NOLA Walk of Fame which broke ground in late November last year. The Walk of Fame is a series of plaques in the sidewalk to honor the city's artists, entrepreneurs, and philanthropists.
Davon Barbour, who announced he will be leaving the Downtown Development District later this month, highlighted that the district's Super Bowl LIX preparations have included landscaping, lighting upgrades, and murals along Canal Street. “Canal Street is the gateway to the French Quarter,” he said. And with the Super Bowl taking place in just nine days, the city has benefited from coordinated improvements. "We joined public sector agencies, economic development partners, private utilities, and others to ensure that Downtown New Orleans is ready for its global showing," said Barbour.
After the Bourbon Street tragedy on New Year’s Day, survey feedback from Canal Street businesses is even more poignant. The Council survey found business owners are focused not just on maintenance and repairs but on ramping up policing and law enforcement. The DDD has created a public safety outpost in the 100 block of Royal Street and an "enhanced security zone" covering the first seven blocks of Bourbon Street and parallel streets between Royal and Dauphine to ready for the Super Bowl.
With momentum from the Super Bowl immediately followed by Mardi Gras, the Celebrate Canal! Coalition has a great chance of success but, as Herman has stated, the city needs the whole community behind it.
Sandra Herman is a pioneering Louisiana leader who broke ground in government by designing and leading the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism in her 20s, running for Secretary of State, and launching a successful trucking business during the state's oil boom. Throughout her nearly four-decade career, she has served in numerous public and private sector leadership roles, secured significant environmental project funding, received multiple prestigious awards, and donated her legacy papers to preserve and share insights into Louisiana's political history.
