The Cantrell Administration is working with the existing pump capacity by building additional storage around the city utilizing parks, vacant land, and innovative streetscaping to create temporary storage to hold rain during those big events while the pumps catch up. This approach, combined with efficiencies to the pump system to get the most capacity of the pumps and reliably provide power to the system, as well as our ongoing effort to keep litter out of the drainage system, is our immediate priority to get the most out of the existing system.
The $141M HUD-funded Gentilly Resilience District (GRD) is a combination of efforts across the Gentilly neighborhood that are designed to reduce flood risk, slow land subsidence, improve energy reliability and encourage neighborhood revitalization. Visit www.nola.gov/resilience for more information.
The following projects and programs currently comprise the Gentilly Resilience District:
Mirabeau Water Garden, Pontilly Neighborhood Stormwater Network, Blue & Green Corridors, St. Bernard Neighborhood Campus, Milne Playground Resilience Project, St. Anthony Green Streets, Dillard Wetlands, Community Adaptation Program, Workforce Development, and Public Art Placemaking.
There have been delays with moving GRD projects into construction, largely due to getting HUD approval for the de-bundling, which essentially means breaking down bigger projects into lower bonding thresholds to make them more accessible to small businesses. Construction is anticipated to begin on all GRD projects in 2021.
The Dillard Wetlands project site is a 27-acre dense woodland tucked along the western edge of the London Avenue Canal. It borders the former Gregory Junior High School / Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) site and is across the canal from the historic Dillard University campus.
The project is being designed in collaboration with the community to develop a comprehensive program with the following core goals and benefits:
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Stormwater Management - mitigate flooding and improve water quality
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Support biodiversity and ecosystem restoration
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Create a community space with varied educational / recreational / social opportunities
The Dillard Wetlands 30% Design Community Meeting took place February 25, 2021.
Join us at the next Dillard Wetlands public event to share your ideas with the design team and take a community walk to the project site.
When: Sat., April 17 / stop by any time between 10am-12pm (11 am community walk)
Where: Tulane Memorial Baptist Church (3601 Paris Avenue)
The $5M Community Adaptation Program, which is managed by the NORA, will benefit up to 200 low to moderate income, owner-occupied single-family households. In total, the completed projects will be able to hold 144,686 gallons ( approximately 3,445 bathtubs) of stormwater in the Gentilly area so that it can gradually enter into the major drainage system.
In March 2021, the project team completed the final walk-through of the one hundredth CAP project, where the design and construction teams of Dana Brown and Associates in partnership with GreenMan Dan installed a permeable (allows water to move through) paver driveway system, infiltration trenches, rain gardens and a stormwater planter box were installed. The green retrofits to this property combine for a total storm water storage of 3,298 gallons, which amounts to 2.3 inches of rainfall.
The City is continuing to showcase completed projects through a Virtual ‘CAP Chats’ online event series. View previous episodes here.
We are excited to resume in-person community events for both St. Anthony Green Streets and the Public Art Projects in the Gentilly Resilience District.
On April 17, Artists Langston Allston and Courtney Egan will lead hands-on, creative activities for all ages, focusing on neighborhood history, plants, and water. Photographer Jose Cotto will be taking portraits of neighborhood residents that they can take home with them, and the portraits may also be featured -- with permission -- as part of a temporary display at Filmore Playground. Meet with the design team and city representatives to learn the latest on the St. Anthony Green Streets project.
From noon to 1, head to New Orleans Mosquito, Rodent, and Termite Control Headquarters (2100 Leon C. Simon) just up the street to help plant a native wildflower meadow with artist Courtney Egan, the Native Plant Initiative, Water Leaders Institute, and Civic Studio.
Please follow all public health guidelines for masks and social distancing, and do not join if you’re experiencing any symptoms of illness. We will have hand sanitizer and extra masks on hand. And if you have any questions or concerns, please email roadwork@nola.gov or call (504) 658-7623. We hope to see you soon!