The City of New Orleans Department of Public Works issued the following status update on March 16, 2015.

Placement of the asphalt portion of the Lafitte Greenway bicycle and pedestrian path is 80% complete in Areas 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.  The path in Area 6 will be concrete and is 50% complete.  The Department of Public Works construction contractor, Durr Heavy Construction, has completed installing most of the trail lighting fixtures in Areas 2, 3, and 4, and continues installation of trail lighting in Area 5. Lighting wiring will be installed toward the end of the project construction, when the project is ready for public use.

The overall project is about 86% complete and scheduled to be fully open to the public in early summer 2015. This schedule is weather dependent.

Share your thoughts on green space and parks in New Orleans. WWNO 89.9FM/the Listening Post wants to know where you hang outside in New Orleans, and what your dream park looks like.

Text "hello" to 504-303-4348 to let them know what you think, and they'll share responses online, listeningpostnola.com and on the radio Thursday, March 19.

The Listening Post is a community media project that aims to start a conversation about local news in New Orleans. Every week on the Listening Post radio segment, they talk about issues ranging from healthcare to WhoDat, tattoos to transportation.

Friends of Lafitte Corridor teamed up with NOLA Trash Mob on Sunday, March 8th to hold a Great American Cleanup of the Lafitte Corridor. Over 30 volunteers helped to pick up over 500 pounds of litter from New Orleans' streets.

We want to give a special thanks to the students from the University of Georgia Impact Program, who kicked off their week of volunteering in New Orleans by helping us keep the Lafitte Corridor beautiful. 

Photos from the Great American Cleanup are posted below.

Friends of Lafitte Corridor and NOLA Trash Mob are hosting a Great American Cleanup of the neighborhoods surrounding the Lafitte Greenway. Join us for coffee and pastries, and a great cleanup of the Corridor.

Help select the first public art installation on the Lafitte Greenway by attending the Water Challenge Art Pitch. In January, Arts Council New Orleans and Propeller: A Force for Social Innovation issued a call to artists to propose designs for a $25,000 art installation for the Lafitte Greenway at Jefferson Davis Parkway on the theme of living with water. 

The New Orleans Track Club will host a 5K Resilience Run/Walk on August 29, 2015to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall and celebrate New Orleans’ perseverance and spirit. FOLC is honored to be one of ten official nonprofit beneficiaries of the run! 

Please register here to run with FOLC! 

Gulf Coast Bank is giving back to the community by donating a total of $50,000 to 10 local non-profits. Help FOLC win up to $25,000 by voting online once per day, now through March 25^th. Thanks for your support! Vote here. 

Friends of Lafitte Corridor is pleased to announce the election of our new Board Chair, Jeffrey Thomas. Jeffrey was elected to the chairmanship at the February 23, 2015 board meeting.

Jeffrey has served on FOLC’s Board since January 2013 and is an active member of FOLC’s Planning & Design and Executive committees. He has served as the Interim Vice-Chair since November, 2014.

Jeffrey is principal of Thomas Strategies, LLC a strategic planning firm that facilitates public-private financing, policy, and partnership solutions to spur resilient community and economic development.

Every year, Line 58, a local branding and web design firm gives away a year's supply of branding, strategy, and design to one lucky nonprofit in the New Orleans region. FOLC is grateful to have been selected as the 2015 recipient. Thank you Line58!

Spurring Development

As the Lafitte Greenway nears completion, it is spurring investment in the surrounding neighborhoods. Here are a sampling of development projects underway or proposed for the Lafitte Corridor.

Broad Street Movie Theatre to Open this Summer

Get ready movie lovers. A new four-screen movie theatre is opening in the Lafitte Corridor this summer. In January, City Council unanimously approved plans for a movie theater at 636 N Broad one short block from the Lafitte Greenway. This 12,400 square foot, 90-year old building was formerly a charitable bingo hall, a plumbing supply store, and an auto shop. The movie theatre will focus on art house and local films.