Hey Blake,
The New Orleans Moisant Airport, now the Louis Armstrong Airport, is located with the city limits of Kenner, which is within the parish of Jefferson. Why should the City of New Orleans have anything to do with it, much less control it?
I do not get your paper every week, so please mail your letter in the enclosed envelope.
Leo B. Good
Dear Leo,
I'm afraid that I don't send personal responses to questions, so, Leo, be good to yourself and make sure you pick up a free copy of Gambit Weekly each week. It's the best deal in town!
When, in the 1930s, the city's municipal airport on the lakefront became inadequate, the City of New Orleans' Department of Public Property formed an Aviation Division to establish a new airport for New Orleans. Coordinating with the Civil Aviation Authority, which required that an airport be a minimum of six miles from the city center, the Aviation Division selected Kenner as the site. The city approved and purchased 648 acres. The new site was named for John Moisant in 1940.
And then World War II came to America in December 1941, and the U.S. government took over the land for Moisant Field to use as an air base. The government constructed the necessary facilities and occupied the land until August 1945. After the war ended, the government returned the property to the City of New Orleans in 1946.
Commercial air service began in 1946 at Moisant Field. With many additions and improvements, the airport grew rapidly. The official name was changed to New Orleans International Airport in 1960.
The airport is governed by the New Orleans Aviation Board, created in 1943, which oversees operation, administration, and maintenance and represents the city in all aviation matters. The nine members of the Aviation Board are appointed by the mayor with City Council approval. The members serve five-year terms and do not get a salary.
Hey Blake,
I came across some material recently about the 1884 New Orleans Industrial and Cotton Exposition that was held on the Audubon Park site. It mentioned the "bandstand located near the lagoon" and the "meteorite" on the 18th hole were the only two original on-site pieces remaining. So my question is: was the Newman Bandstand or any part of it originally part of that Expo?
WA
Dear WA,
The bandstand was constructed in 1921 at the end of Live Oak Mall and was described at the time as a "fitting memorial to one of the earliest benefactors of the park" -- Isadore Newman. John Charles Olmsted designed the bandstand himself.
A guide to the 1884 exposition was published that provided visitors with every possible bit of information they might require. The guide included a detailed description of the grounds and every building on them. It also provided a program of events and a useful map. But nowhere in the guide was a bandstand indicated.
The grounds covered an area of 247 acres, bounded on the north by St. Charles Avenue and on the south by the Mississippi River. Encircling the grounds was an electric railroad three miles long. And within, there were some very impressive buildings: the Main building that included a giant Music Hall, the United States and State Exhibits building, the Horticultural Hall, the Art Gallery, and the Factories and Mills building. Annexes included the Mexican building, live stock stables and arena, a furniture building, saw mills, S. Hernsheim's Cigar building, a judges hall, a grand fountain, and four large restaurants. There were also the usual concession stands for obtaining drinks, snacks and newspapers. Visitors could also use the Public Comfort building or send telegraphs and make telephone calls.
However, your source was correct when it referred to the legendary "meteorite" that is on the golf course. It is the only remnant of the exposition. When the exposition ended, a public auction was held, and almost everything that could be carried or carted away was taken. The hunk of iron ore from the Alabama exhibit was just too heavy to move, so there it sits.
