I am writing at the request of Executive Director Marcia A. St. Martin to provide an update on the work at Harrell Playground. As of this morning, the Drennan Construction Company was given the order to begin the restoration project at Harrell Playground. Drennan began mobilizing equipment to the site this morning
and will start construction on tomorrow, Saturday, August 9, 2008.
Their working hours will be from 6:30am to 4:30pm each day.
Their work will consist of removing the temporary utilities and restoring the football field to its pre-Katrina condition. The new equipment that will result from this work includes the bleachers, fencing, and the football goal posts. The length of the contract is 60 calendar days pending rain days,
and the completion date is scheduled to be October 6, 2008.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
Robert B. Jackson
Dir. Comm. & Intergov. Rel.
SWBNO
5042697978
(Thanks to Senator Gray’s Office for forwarding the information)
There is a company - Jeld-Wen Windows & Doors - that helps restore lighthouses. This company has a contest going on right now to donate new windows and doors for a lighthouse in need of restoration, and OUR lighthouse is on the list!
PLEASE help out and vote for New Orleans!! Click on this Link And select the “New Canal Lighthouse - Louisiana”
Please share this information with others so that our lighthouse gets MANY votes.
Thanks ya’ll!
“A series of mechanical breakdowns and a critical error by the bridge operator led to New Orleans police officer Tommie Felix’s fatal plunge off an improperly opened Claiborne Avenue drawbridge, according to a preliminary investigation by the state transportation department”
Times Picayune
Retail center plans draw critics
Carrollton residents want to be involved
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
By Kate Moran
Several neighborhood leaders approached the city’s Industrial Development Board on Tuesday to ask that the agency hold off on approving bonds for a major shopping center on Carrollton Avenue until the developer better acquaints residents with the project.
The development team, led by Jeffrey Feil of New York, plans to rebuild a shopping center on Carrollton near Xavier University that suffered heavy damage during Hurricane Katrina. The new mall would encompass 200,000 square feet of retail space and possibly include a bookstore and pet store.
Several residents of the Carrollton area said they support the shopping center but want more information about how the developers would manage traffic patterns and how their project would jibe with the Unified New Orleans Plan that civic groups spent so many hours crafting.
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“Because it is such a vital project and is going to be financed in large part by public money, there should be public dialogue about its design,” said Paul Baricos, a neighborhood leader from the Carrollton-Hollygrove area.
The developer has requested the $40 million in bonds through the city’s Industrial Development Board to support construction of the shopping center. The board held a public hearing on the matter Tuesday but did not take any action.
Several board members noted that they do not have direct authority over some of the issues that concern the neighborhood groups, including traffic flow. They directed the residents to their City Council member and to other city agencies.
Karen Gadbois, an activist from the northwest part of Carrollton, said the developers had failed to talk to neighborhood groups about how the project would affect their quality of life. She submitted a letter from eight civic leaders who requested that the developer incorporate local businesses in addition to national chains in the shopping center, among other concerns.
Mark Madderra, a representative for the developer, said the owners are trying to find tenants that can afford to pay rent at a level that would support the rebuilding of the shopping center, which was mostly demolished after the storm.
He said decisions about “infrastructure, access and traffic patterns” would come later. “It’s not a quick process,” he said.
“The concerns of the neighborhood about how people are going to get in and out, that’s critical to everyone involved,” Madderra said. “No tenant is going to commit unless they think the people who are potentially using the center can get into it.”
YOU ARE INVITED TO THE NEXT NORTHWEST CARROLLTON NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING
* When: Wednesday, May 21st 7:30pm – 8:30pm
* Where: Mt. Pilgrim Babtist Church
2717 Joliet St. (Corner of Belfast and Joliet Streets)
Come meet your neighbors, and discover what is going on in our area!
AGENDA
o A representative from NORA will talk to us about their mission to eliminate and prevent the spread of slums and blight in the City of New Orleans in accordance with Community Improvement Plans.
o A discussion of the latest Earhart Expansion Plans, and what the neighborhood is doing to try to improve them.
o Find out the latest on the Carrollton Shopping Center plans.
o Discussion of any other neighborhood issues that are important to you!
These manufactured “homes” are being installed in Lakeview.
I did a little research.
SO, YOU MIGHT RIGHTLY ASK “WELL, WHO EXACTLY IS BUYING A MANUFACTURED HUD CODE HOME?”
You would be mightily surprised at the spectrum of buyers which includes school teachers, law enforcement, younger FTHBs, business owners and professionals as well as mature adults (empty nesters) who are downsizing.
Their underlying purchase motivation? A HUD Code home offers much more “bang for the housing buck”! At an average price of $42 - $52 per sq.ft folks get all of the bells and whistles and can afford a much large home… essential for folks with young, growing families.
This property has been a constant source of trouble.
It had an illegal rebuild sometime before the storm, it was left open for 2 years after the storm. They did a shabby unpermitted rebuild. And now a fire because they have been throwing the debris in the front yard instead of a dumpster.
In two short weeks, we will be losing the truck that has been hauling our large equipment trailer across New Orlean’s neighborhood supplying thousands of volunteers with lawnmowers, weed eaters, gloves, shovels and other tools and equipment. Our truck has been graciously loaned to us by one of our staff whom will be moving on to the next chapter in his recovery.
We welcome cash donations to help us buy our new
but used truck that we have already identified as a great deal!
But, just in case…we need: 3/4 ton chassis (due to the road conditions and heavy loads we tow) automatic transmission, V8 engine, and a tow package that can pull our enclosed 12ft equipment trailer loaded with commercial grade equipment.
volunteer trailer
Please help us with information or dollars! To donate click here Donate to Beacons TruckBeacon of Hope Donation Page
now!”
The Beacons have done the tremendous job, in fact they have done the job the Federal Government promised it would do. And as they open new Beacons all over the City they need a truck.
We have an immediate need! Can you help us find a sponsor or matching donor?
Dear fellow nonprofits, partners and constituents,
A major part of the Beacon’s work is CLEAN UP. We make neighborhoods viable with basic cleaning of New Orleans yard by yard and neighborhood by neighborhood. Our efforts have been crippled due to mechanical difficulties. We are continuing our efforts but the grass is moving quicker than we are. Our fearless volunteer director and equipment manager will do what they have to do to get the equipment to our worksites, BUT need a TRUCK! Our volunteers are on the way; help us get the tools to them. Any help or donation will be gladly displayed on our “truck†to roll with us thru New Orleans.
Needed: V8, automatic transmission, ¾ ton chassis, TRUCK and sponsorship!
IF you can help, call Tina, Heather or Nikki at the Beacon of Hope Resource Center
504-309-5120 or email tina@lakewoodbeacon.org
Here is the proposal by the Department of Public Works:
(click on photo to view larger image)
And here is the proposal by the Neighbors who live and travel this route:
(click on photo to view larger image)
Robert Mendoza, City of New Orleans, Director of Public Works, Nguyen Phan, Chief Engineer, Public Works, and Miles Bingham, URS Corp. to provide details regarding the Earhart Expansion Project (see Citizen Plan B on reverse) and the
reconfiguration of Carrollton Avenue associated with the Carrollton Shopping Center
When: Monday, April 21th 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Where: St. Matthew’s Church, 1333 South Carrollton Avenue
Right after the storm there was a lot of conversation about the rebuilding and modular homes. A lot of conversation about how great they are and how well they will fit in. Not much conversation about the depreciation of the homes, and the fact they have have a life expectancy.
Last month I attended the BZA to request that the salesman of this modular not be allowed to place this home on this site because it needed a variance because of it’s size. Simply put the house was too large for the lot, a fact that the company who contracted this sale chose to ignore the zoning restrictions sets a precedent for this block.
Arguing in favor was Sherman Copelan a man who has fought against aprtment complexes in his part of the City.
