The Gentilly Resilience District (GRD) is a combination of resilience programs and projects in the targeted area of Gentilly, designed to reduce flood risk, slow land subsidence, improve energy reliability and spur neighborhood revitalization.    

The Blue & Green Corridors project is being designed to combine rainfall management with symbiotic community benefits.  Updates to the urban landscape along strategic ‘Corridors’, will create multimodal transportation connections, waterways that will retain rainfall, as well as public social spaces in the GRD.  Check out the recently installed signage along the Elysian Fields neutral ground at the intersections of Odin, Prentiss & Robert E.  Lee to view the project vision and for more information. 

YOU SPOKE – We Listened... Designing this project with the community - that feedback shaped this design scope.  As we approach the conclusion of the design process, we recently hosted a 90% design virtual community update meeting on July 30, 2020.   Weren’t able to make!?... Click this link to view the presentation. 

The St. Bernard Neighborhood Campus project is being designed with multiple benefits in mind - increasing the number of native plantings for shade and habitat, which will decrease urban heat effects and reduce flooding by storing stormwater on site before slowly releasing it into the drainage system.  And while addressing the environmental challenges of the community is paramount, the project also aims to demonstrate that resilient neighborhood-scale stormwater management can provide benefits far beyond the initial investment by revitalizing community access to varied recreational amenities.   

This project will be constructed in three phases – Phase I is at 90% design completion and anticipated to begin construction in the 1st Quarter of 2021 - the focus of this phase is the multi-functional athletic fields.   This will not only provide the community with a recreational amenity but will also serve the enhanced purpose of flood reduction by storing up to 5 million gallons of stormwater in underground detention basins. Retention?

The Pontilly Neighborhood Stormwater Network is a Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP)-leveraged project in the National Disaster Resilience (NDR)-funded portfolio of projects in the Gentilly Resilience District.  The HMGP-funded, Phase I is currently under construction and includes bio swales, rain gardens, pervious surfacing and more.  Upon completion, it will store up to $8.9M gallons of storm water and reduce flooding as much as 14 inches during a 10-year rain event.  Check out the project page for more information.  

Phase II will focus on improvements to the Dwyer Canal - creating a recreational and social space that will enhance the natural beauty of the historic Pontchartrain Park and Gentilly Woods, New Orleans neighborhoods.  There have been previous efforts to design and construct a similar project, however, those attempts proved fruitless, as funding was either not clearly identified or fully secured.  The NDR grant is not only funding the design and construction (of Phase II) but also prioritizes community engagement as paramount to the success of the project.  This feedback will provide the input that will shape the design.

We will use various means and methods of engagement throughout the design process; one of which is polling / surveys.  We currently have a survey published on the website to solicit feedback on the initial design.  Please check out the project page to complete and/or view the survey and the meeting presentation; as well as more information on the project.