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Street of Dreams
Growing pains are inevitable, but the feeling of optimism over Canal Street is infectious.
Canal Street is one of the grand boulevards in the United States and the world, and we need to give it the attention it deserves,” says Neil J. Kohlman, executive director of the city-sponsored Canal Street Development Corporation. We couldn’t agree more. Two weeks ago, the long-anticipated, much-delayed city project to revitalize Canal Street broke ground. The final goal: the return of New Orleans’ signature street to its former glory, transforming the 17-block stretch from the river to Claiborne Avenue into an attraction for tourists, residents and businesses.
Canal Street once served as the city’s centerpiece, from the days early in our history when failed financing created the United States’ widest street and popularized the phrase “neutral ground” to describe the space that separated feuding factions of Americans and Creoles. More recently, Canal Street’s glamour derived from its prominence as a shopping district with the finest wares in the South, boasting names such as D.H. Holmes, Godchaux’s and Krauss. Troubling trends of white flight and the suburban mall sounded a death knell. Until now.
While the May 2004 return of the streetcar line was the first major sign of Canal Street’s revitalization, the multi-faceted project has been years in the making. The concept originated in former Mayor Marc Morial’s administration and was given a major boost when voters in April 2001 approved a tax renewal and bond proposal to be spent primarily on Canal Street improvements by the Downtown Development District (DDD). The initial blueprint for renewing Canal Street drew some criticism — remember the infamous (and expensive) palm trees? — but a solid, feasible plan emerged. In support of the concept, we wrote in April 2001, “Let’s create a first-class environment for revitalizing Canal Street and let economics take care of the rest of the development.” A mix of public and private investment, for varied developments, is the best way to repair Canal Street, and now under Mayor Ray Nagin’s administration, that’s what we’re seeing.
The estimated $12.9 million cost for the project is “secured and budgeted,” Kohlman says, eliminating a financing problem that had plagued the project. Kohlman estimates a 24-month schedule to be implemented in phases: a shopping/hotel area from the river to Rampart Street, an entertainment district around Rampart and Basin streets, and from there toward the lake, a home to the city’s burgeoning biomedical industry.
New trees will be planted along the entire 1.1-mile stretch from the river to Claiborne Avenue. The portion of Canal Street from the river to Rampart Street will keep its existing brick sidewalks but will add granite trim, plus all-granite “bump-outs” — sections where the sidewalk will extend out at every corner and mid-block in most blocks. The bump-outs will allow sidewalk dining and shopping, giving the area a more open, pedestrian-friendly and European flair and (hopefully) generating more customers for shops and restaurants. The impact on vehicular traffic will be minimal, as Canal Street will keep three lanes in each direction. Unfortunately, the plan includes no bicycle lanes, though it does include new benches, new lighting and bicycle racks.
There are signs that the proposed entertainment district at Rampart and Basin streets, an area rich in jazz history, will return to its musical roots. Community-supported radio station WWOZ is expected to move from its cramped quarters in Armstrong Park to an expansive space inside the Krauss building. Also, developers aim to transform the State Palace Theater to include a museum honoring New Orleans music. Smaller music venues, nightclubs and record shops could bring an around-the-clock bustle to the area. In addition, Realtors are looking to sell 200 market-rate condos in the Krauss building. Bringing residents back to Canal Street to live, work and play should be a major focus of the revitalization, especially considering the unsightly and unsafe number of abandoned properties in the area.
The last stretch toward Claiborne will be offered as a home to the biomedical industry, which many experts feel could develop into a major engine in the local economy if properly encouraged. Private enterprises and facilities for Tulane and LSU medical centers are expected there. This boon, coupled with added residences, could also attract coffee shops and upscale eateries.
The city also deserves credit for exceeding its goal of hiring minority and disadvantaged businesses for at least 35 percent of the subcontractors to primary contractor Boh Brothers. Some 43 percent of them are designated Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE), chiefly minority-run companies. Meanwhile, we hope that all Canal Street merchants and property owners get the attention of contractors when it comes to avoiding the disruptions that plagued businesses along Carrollton Avenue during streetcar construction there. Although growing pains are inevitable, the feeling of optimism over Canal Street is infectious. “There will be some great things happening on Canal Street that keep up the momentum of the renaissance that’s already under way,” Kohlman says. New Orleans needs a vital downtown. With a revitalized Canal Street, we’ll be well on our way.
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