NEW ORLEANS – The Trust For Public Land, in partnership with the City of New Orleans, Crescent City Schools and Paul Habans Charter School will unveil its first Green Schoolyard with a ribbon cutting at Paul Habans Charter School on Thursday, Nov. 2, at Paul Habans Charter School, 3501 Seine St., at 10:00 a.m.
This transformative project combines recreation amenities including new play equipment, a chalkboard wall, painted reading porch, walking path and nature trail, and imaginative play structures; along with sustainability features like rain gardens and native plantings capturing the first one and one-quarter (1.25) inch of rain, organizers said. The Habans’ schoolyard will be the first in the city to adhere to the requirements set forth in the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance and will be a required replication element moving forward in future green schoolyard designs, they said.
A ribbon cutting ceremony, that is open to the public, will commence promptly at 10:00 a.m. followed by a performance by the Paul Habans Drum Line.
New Orleans’ commitment to green infrastructure is crucial to fulfilling the promise of this generation: a resilient and livable New Orleans for years to come, organizers said. Habans’ schoolyard is a neighborhood park providing a source of pride for the school and a valuable community asset for the surrounding neighborhood, they said.
The Trust for Public Land Green Schoolyard Program has completed more than 200 playgrounds in New York City, Newark, New Jersey and Philadelphia since 1996. Habans’ schoolyard is the pilot schoolyard project in New Orleans. The students at Paul Haban Charter were involved in the design process to create this new green space for their school and the surrounding community.
The Trust for Public Land creates parks and protects land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come, reps said. Millions of people live within a 10-minute walk of a Trust for Public Land park, garden, or natural area, and millions more visit these sites every year, they said.
