Lake Terrace & Lake Oaks
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Lake Terrace & Lake Oaks Neighborhood Planning District 6 Rebuilding Plan Lake Terrace & Lake Oaks Neighborhood, Planning District Six Introduction Table of Contents Approximately 100 days after Hurricane Katrina Basic assumptions also formed the basis for the Acknowledgements Introduction 2 struck, Motion M-05-592 was unanimously neighborhood rebuilding plan: passed by the City Council of New Orleans. This 1. That a flood protection system will be With grateful appreciation the planning team A. Lake Terrace & motion ensured that community-based, designed to withstand future catastropic would like to thank all the residents of Lake Oaks Neighborhood neighborhood-by-neighborhood planning would loss from a 1 in 100 year storm and that District 6 who participated in this planning Location & History 3 be central to decisions associated with the this is a commitment by the federal process and without whose participation this Recovery Vision & Goals 4 recovery of the most devastated areas of New government. plan would not be possible. Planning Process 5 Orleans. The City Council was adamant that the Neighborhood Concerns 7 people most impacted by the storm would play a 2. That stringent building codes will be Project Directory central role in defining the future of their implemented to further limit wind B. Pre-Hurricane Katrina communities. Overall, 47 of the 73 damage. City of New Orleans Neighborhood Existing Conditions 9 neighborhoods delineated by the City’s Planning C. Ray Nagin, Mayor Land-Use and Zoning 9 Commission have had plans prepared as part of 3. That the basic urban structure of the city Pre-Katrina Demographic Profile 10 this process. is sound and that rebuliding will respect New Orleans City Council: Income & Household Characteristics 10 this structure; and Oliver M. Thomas, President Roadway Hierarchy and Jurisdiction 10 The City Council charged a team of consultants Housing, Architecture 12 Arnie Fielkow, Vice-President overseen by Lambert Advisory & SHEDO with 4. That there is an organized, coherent and Historic Preservation 12 Shelley Midura, District A assisting neighborhoods flooded by Hurricane operable hurricane evaluation program. Stacy S. Head, District B Katrina in developing revitalization plans that are C. Hurricane Katrina James Carter, District C thoughtful and can be implemented, for This section presents the Dillard neighborhood, Neighborhood Impacts 13 Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, District D incorporation into a citywide recovery and one of seven within Planning District 6. This Residential Damage Assessment 13 Cynthia Willard-Lewis, District E improvement plan to be submitted to the State district-wide section of this report presents data, Commercial Damage Assessment 14 of Louisiana and federal funding agencies. This information and projects that impact the entire Infrastructure Damage Assessment 14 Project Management: document is one of forty-two (42) neighborhood district. This section discusses those projects as Parks & Open Space 14 Lambert Advisory, LLC plans that meet that mandate well as neighborhood projects specific to this Community Facilities 14 Paul Lambert neighborhood. SHEDO, LLC 2 D. Neighborhood Rebuilding Scenarios 17 Shelia Danzey Neighborhood Re-population 17 City planning Commission: Overall Planning Consultant: E. Neighborhood Recovery Plan 19 Planning District Strategic Initiatives 19 Designations Bermello-Ajamil & Partners, Inc. Plan Elements Alfredo C. Sanchez, AIA, AICP Land Use and Zoning 24 Hewitt-Washington, Inc. Transportation and Public Transit 24 Lonnie Hewitt, AIA Parks, Open Space and Landscape Architecture 24 Neighborhood Planner: Housing and Architecture 24 Historic Preservation 24 Hewitt Architects Lonnie Hewitt, AIA F. Implementation and Funding Strategies 25 Images from left to right: A: Entrance Feature - Lake Terrace B: Entrance Feature - Lake Oaks C: University of New Orleans City of New Orleans Neighborhoods Rebuilding Plan A. Lake Terrace & Lake Oaks Neighborhood General Location and History History The neighborhood at one time was one of Location New Orleans most famous entertainment The Lake Terrace & Lake Oaks neighborhood districts. At one time the Milneburg is generally bounded by Lake Pontchartrain to settlement was located on the land at the the north, Robert E. Lee Boulevard and Leon end of Elysian Fields. In 1830 when the C. Simon Boulevard to the south, Lake Pontchartrain Railroad connected Faubourg Pontchartrain to the east, and Bayou St. John Marigny with this area, it consisted of hotels, to the west. The neighborhood contains the bars and a few houses. When the Milneburg two subdivisions for which it is named and pier was built, New Orleans residents started the University of New Orleans’ (UNO) building small wooden camps around Lakefront (main) campus, Technology Park, Milneburg. 3 and the east campus. Around 1870, the “Smokey Mary” railroad The Lake Oaks subdivision is situated operated on Elysian Fields and provided between UNO’s main (western boundary) and passengers to and from the resort to hear east campuses along Franklin Avenue some of the city’s early jazz at the dance (eastern boundary). To the north is Lake halls and bandstands including Morgan’s Pontchartrain. Its southern boundary is Saloon, the Joy Club, Romer’s Café, The Inn, formed by Leon C. Simon Boulevard. Quarellles, and Nick’s Restaurant, to name few. The Lake Terrace subdivision forms the northwestern area of Planning District 6 and The Milne resort area continued to be is generally bounded by Lake Pontchartrain to popular through the 1930s and many of the the north, Robert E. Lee Boulevard to the city’s early jazz greats played there including south, London Avenue canal to the east, and Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong and Danny Bayou St. John to the west. Barker. The resort was commemorated in the song “Milneburg Joys” which was often The two residential subdivisions located in misspelled as “Milneberg”. the Lake Terrace and Lake Oaks neighborhood were developed by the Orleans In the 1930s the Levee Board implemented Levee Board. Lake Terrace was opened in lakefront reclamation plans that included 1953 and Lake Oaks was opened in 1964. demolishing the camps and nightclubs to Images from left to right: Both subdivisions have restrictive covenants build the present day reinforced shoreline. By and title restrictions with the Orleans Levee 1941, the Milneburg resort no longer existed A: University of New Orleans Lakefront Board which includes a 30% open space with the exception of the lighthouse. Prior to Campus requirement. the 1920s, much of the lakefront area of New Lake Terrace & Lake Oaks Neighborhood, Planning District Six Orleans was marshy swampland. Only camps the property after the war and turned it over and fishing shacks existed. In an effort to to the state of Louisiana. Planning District 6 Neighborhoods & Neighborhood Associations develop strategies for providing improved flood protection with levees, the Louisiana Today, the University of New Orleans legislature named Colonel Marcel Garsaud to operates its main campus, Technology be the chief engineer for the Orleans Levee Research Center and east campus which Board in 1924. He was commissioned to houses the Keiffer Arena. The University of develop a plan and implement the New Orleans opened in 1958 as the reclamation and improvement of the Louisiana State University in New Orleans. lakefront area of New Orleans. In 1928, a The name was changed in 1974. UNO plan was adopted that included provisions for transitioned from being a two-year college to 4 a public park area between present a four-year university in 1961. By 1964 the Lakeshore Drive and the lake, recreational curriculum included six academic colleges, a features and residential development with graduate school and an evening division. one section of homes fronting on the lake. The plan was developed and adopted with After World War II, a section of the property the potential to become self-supporting. that fronted the lake was leased to the Batt family who developed it into the In 1926, prior to the adoption of the plan Pontchartrain Beach Amusement Park with however, pumping and draining of the rides including the famous wooden roller swamps as well as construction of the coaster called the Zephyr. By the 1970s, seawall began. By 1930, work on the Pontchartrain Beach Amusement Park was lakefront plan commenced. The new considered the largest thrill park in the lakeshore consisted of a stepped concrete south. The park was closed in 1984. The site seawall built 3,000 feet from the shore with is now home to UNO’s Research and a filled area that was raised between five and Technology Center. ten feet. Above the lake level were a beautiful public waterfront, beaches and parks. The transformation of the lakeshore Recovery Vision and Goals allowed for the construction of the Lake Terrace and Lake Oaks subdivisions. Vision During World War II, the land became part of The Lake Terrace and Lake Oaks neighborhood the New Orleans Naval Air Station that was has a fortunate geographical position within the used as a training facility and a test site for city of New Orleans in close proximity to Lake the boats constructed by nearby Higgins Pontchartrain and within easy access of Shipbuilding company. The Navy abandoned activities and services of the overall district and City of New Orleans Neighborhoods Rebuilding Plan the city. Its location provides a setting for a option for the large shopping center at • Create beautiful open spaces that Planning Process and beautiful residential community. Paris and Mirabeau Avenue respond to the demands of their Neighborhood Participation • Provide a mixed use redevelopment location The vision for the recovery of Lake Terrace and option for the area of Robert E. Lee • Enhance existing neighborhood parks Community Organization and Lake Oaks is one of a neighborhood composed of Boulevard and Paris Avenue • Improve pedestrian connectivity within Reconstruction Efforts single family homes organized along the existing the neighborhood street system and featuring magnificent shade Capitalize on neighborhood assets • Restore the Neutral Grounds of Robert In November 2005, the Gentilly Civic trees.