The SIG field trip and dinner have now been organized. Both events will occur on Wednesday 3 April. The field trip is a tour of three 'brownfield' sites in New Orleans. A description of the three sites follows. The tour is an initiative of the New Orleans city council and will cover both the ecological and social implications of the three sites. It promises to be very interesting. The tour is not commonly available to tourists visiting New Orleans. We have hired a bus which will leave the front entrance of the Marriott at 2 pm and return at 5 pm. The dinner is at a highly recommended, relatively inexpensive, Creole restaurant, "Dickie Brennan's Palace Cafe" at 605 Canal St. Dinner commences at 7 pm and we will meet at the restaurant. The cost of the tour will be about $18.00 per head depending on the number going. You will need to pay in cash at the time of the tour.

It is essential to book early as we have reserved only 25 places for the tour and the dinner. Please email Kimewalker@aol.com to make your reservation. It is not necessary to attend both events but I do need to know which (or both) events you intend to attend.

LINCOLN BEACH
Lincoln Beach is a 27-acre City-owned property, which was home to an amusement park and beach for African-Americans during Segregation. It is being redeveloped by the New Orleans Building Corporation (NOBC), a public-benefit corporation formed to address redevelopment of City-owned properties. Redevelopment plans for Lincoln Beach include a public beach/recreation area, an interpretive center, and an amphitheater. Site assessments revealed extensive environmental contamination including the presence of asbestos, lead-based paint, and PCBs. Clean up is currently in process.

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON PROJECT
Booker T. Washington is a historic African- American high school in Central City that has a unique vocational training component including agriculture and aquaculture programs that provide services to local restaurants and businesses in New Orleans. Two Brownfield sites adjacent to the school will provide the needed space for expansion of the school's vocational programs. The property at 3101 Erato is to be donated to the school and 1212 S. Roman is to be sold to the school by Xavier University for this project. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is in the process of conducting environmental site assessments on these properties.

3317 & 3327 CHARTRES STREET
This Chartres Street Brownfield site has interested several developers. The building, vacant since 1991, is a large metal structure that was used for adhesives manufacturing, seafood processing, and a TV studio operation. Location of the site in the historic Bywater neighborhood and fronting the river makes it a prime target for redevelopment. Potential redevelopment plans include residential and commercial. Environmental Site Assessments carried out through collaboration with the Mayor's Office of Environmental Affairs and a private development entity revealed asbestos, lead, mercury, and TPH (Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons) as the site contaminants and the source to be from storage and dumping on the property and not the operations conducted onsite.

Go to 2002 program | Go to 2002 Program Chair's overview