Contributed by Allen Johnson, Jr and Eileen Loh-Harrist

Uptown neighborhood groups and a hastily developed grassroots coalition known as SaveAudubonPark.org have called a public meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 4, so residents can hear plans about, and voice their opinion on, the recently begun $6 million renovation of Audubon Park.

"We don't think it's too late to modify these plans," says SaveAudubonPark.org coordinator Debra Howell. She says the group opposes proposals to raze a live oak grove, pave the Meditation Walk and eliminate the Hurst Walk public footpath and Lagoon Bridge, among other plans. Howell says the group has invited Mayor Marc Morial, representatives from the Audubon Institute and members of the City Council and the Audubon Park Commission. At press time, none of the invitees had committed to the 7-9 p.m. meeting, she says.

"No one has formally invited us yet, so we don't know," says Audubon Institute spokeswoman Sarah Burnette. "It says on their Web site that we've been invited, but no one has contacted us."

Also planning to attend the meeting are representatives from the local chapters of the national nonprofit groups Sierra Club and the Trust for Public Land, according to Howell. The meeting will be held at the Dominican Conference Center at 580 Broadway St. For more information, visit http://www.saveaudubonpark.org.

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