New Library in Jefferson Parish

 A new library will be built and named after community leaders Joseph and Constance Caroll. The $2.2 million dollar project will be located in Avondale and will be around 4,500 square feet. “For many years, this community has asked about a library. Our young children who often need guidance…..this is going to be a resource for them and their families,” says Parish Council member Byron Lee.

The library will house meeting spaces, study rooms and a dozen public computer stations and will be located at 588 Avondale Garden Road on the west bank. “Whatever financial gaps or whatever digital that may exist, it won’t exist for very long once this beautiful building is built,” commented Lee.

Joseph and Constance Carroll have been community leaders in Avondale for a long time. They have had a hand in education so this is fitting for them. Their names will be put on the learning institution which is dedicated to education. The library will also have music education in some form or fashion in honor of Mrs. Caroll’s dedication as a music teacher.

The library is needed to fill a gap in the community. It will serve as a safe haven for citizens as well. “Libraries are no longer simply about housing collections. We are about making connections,” boasts Jessica Styons, the new library’s director.

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A $75,000 Our Town Grant Goes to A Studio in the Woods

 

A program of Tulane University’s ByWater Institute called A Studio in the Woods, is receiving a $75,000 Our Town Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The grant will be used towards Searching for the Ghosts of the Gulf, a collaborative project with artist and biologist Brandon Ballengée and the Plaquemines Parish Government.

A Studio in the Woods is a retreat for artists, scholars, and the public. It is a place in Lousiana's protected forest along the Mississippi River where patrons can go to relax and focus on their creativity. The organization has built a network of artists interested in works based on southern Louisiana's environment.

Searching for the Ghosts of the Gulf is a project that artist and biologist Brandon Ballengée and the Plaquemines Parish Government are coming together to create. Brandon Ballengée will be a community-based residency at A Studio in the Woods where he will study and explore endangered fish species from the Gulf of Mexico.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Brandon Ballengée and the Plaquemines Parish Government to bring dynamic, accessible, and fun programming about environmental change to our neighbors in Plaquemines Parish,” A Studio in the Woods Managing Director Ama Rogan remarked, “We hope this project sparks new understandings, conversations, and bonds in our communities.”

Ballengée states, “Together we will build resilience for coastal populations using citizen driven art/science research while taking collaborative actions towards a collective future survival.”

Our Town funding is the National Endowment for the Arts grant that will help fund projects such as this at A Studio in the Woods. There are 63 grants like this nationwide which supports projects that integrate arts, culture, and design activities into efforts that strengthen communities by advancing local economic, physical, and/or social outcomes; ultimately laying the groundwork for sustainable systems change.

“It is always exciting when Plaquemines Parish can partner with outside organizations to bring grant money into our parish. This project in particular will help us to expand our coastal resilience, which as we know is one of the most important and pressing issues we face,” said Plaquemines Parish President Kirk M. Lepine.

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West Bank to New Orleans Transportation Soon to Get Easier

A bill signed by Governor Jindal gives the green light to two projects which could transform transportation from the West Bank to New Orleans into a simple, easy ride for those residents commuting from places such as Gretna, Marrero, and Harvey to the Central Business District (CBD) to work everyday.  Currently, the ferry boats that dock at Canal Street and Algiers Point and Chalmette and Lower Algiers are so old that they are constantly breaking down and have the potential for permanently being put out of service because of their ages. One of these ferry boats was built in 1937.  The first project approved by the governor was to design and build these boats.  Construction will take approximately 12 months for the first boat and  6 months for the next boat

built after that.

“It gives us the opportunity to use all the procurement options now available to speed up the process to get those ferries built,” Transdev Vice President Justin Augustine said Tuesday. “We talked to boat builders…the feedback was clearly they could get the first built in 12 months and a second one within six months after that.”

Another transportation project that will alleviate stressful travel for those residents that live in Belle Chasse was the fastrack approval of a design / build process for a new bridge that will replace the Belle Chasse Tunnel underneath the Intercoastal Waterway.  Because state law prohibits a design and build process at the same time, in the hands of one contractor, special approval had to be given by the legislature for this caveat.  Similar measures were proposed and passed after Hurricane Katrina to move needed construction projects through to the approval stage at a faster pace.  Overall, through the construction of these two necessary modes of transportation, homeowners on the West Bank will soon have new ways of traveling the short commute to New Orleans while still enjoying the “away-from-the-city” life of living in Jefferson Parish.

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