On Thursday, the City Council approved a agreement with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development to take over the property under the Claiborne Avenue I-10 overpass. The City is proposing to transform that space into an innovation district and marketplace that will focus on culture.
Rendering of the newly proposed Cultural Innovation District on the Claiborne Corridor via Thenetworkneworleans.org
The 19 block area under the interstate between Canal Street to St. Bernard Avenue would be transformed into the Cultural Innovation District. The area would feature new developments that will emphasize the city’s arts, food and cultural products in a series of buildings with class rooms, stores, exhibit space, studio space, and technology.
Built with green infrastructure, it will also be a site for youth programming, health, environmental, and social services, community projects, workshops, and special events for the residents of the Claiborne Corridor. The first phase of the project, spanning from Orleans Avenue to Esplanade Avenue, will create retail space and infrastructure for 30 micro-enterprises, 20 small businesses, and ten non-profit or public sector organizations; in addition to a plethora of open spaces, art installations, exhibits, and demonstrations.
The Landrieu Administration, through its Network for Economic Opportunity, is behind the project. Other partners include Foundation for Louisiana and the U.S. Economic Development Administration, the latter of which committed an $840,000 grant for the project.
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