NPS Park Repairs, ImprovementsThe team at both Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve and New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park are busier than ever with numerous projects across all our park sites. These projects are intended to have long-term lasting impacts for our natural and cultural resources and visitor experience. These projects are supported from several different sources of funding. Investing in Our Future - Projects by SiteThe park is currently planning and designing an update for ground-floor visitor center at 419 Decatur Street to accommodate both parks’ visitor engagement and interpretive functions into a single space. Demolition and construction are expected to begin in Spring 2025. We relocated our museum collections from New Orleans to the Cane River Creole National Historical Park curatorial facility in Natchitoches, LA. This effort will minimize future threats to the collection by severe weather. Our reclamation of seven oil and gas well sites is ongoing. This work entails the removal of surface equipment and debris, and replugging and abandonment of the wells. These wells were originally plugged and abandoned in the 1960s, before the creation of the Preserve and the establishment of the park. Removal will begin in Fall 2025.
In conjunction with the Army Corps of Engineers, we removed a shell plug located at the confluence of Bayou aux Carpes and Bayou Barataria and 12.5 miles of canal channels in order to improve water flow and improve environmental conditions. Monitoring of the results of this project will continue into early 2025.
We constructed a breakwater to protect part of the Preserve’s Lake Salvador shoreline and restoring submerged aquatic vegetation habitat continues.
Work is ongoing to repair and improve some of the boardwalks and trails damaged during Hurricane Ida in 2021. Repairs will increase resiliency to account for severe weather flooding, rising sea levels, subsidence, and storm surges. This project began in May 2022; the pre-design phase was completed in July 2023, and the schematic design phase in August 2023. As of September 2024, the project is in the detailed design phase. A draft Environmental Assessment (EA) has been completed, was made available to the public for review and comment in March 2024, and is expected to be completed in late 2024 or early 2025. By early 2026, phased construction is expected to begin. For the current status of our trails please visit here: Alerts & Conditions - Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
We are consolidating and relocating park administrative and visitor services functions to better utilize existing facilities on higher ground and reduce our park’s infrastructure footprint. These phased efforts began in May 2022. The Jones Point site will be restored to natural conditions. Phased construction is expected to begin in February 2025. We are actively planning repairs and rehabilitation of the Malus-Beauregard House. Built in 1832-33, the building is currently a safety hazard to both employees and visitors. We ask visitors stay behind the barricades and do not approach the building. We are also collaborating with the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center to rehabilitate the Chalmette Monument. Currently, we are in the design phase, developing plans that will guide future repair work. The project will focus on several key areas, including work on the masonry and windows as well as improvements to the door, stairwell, and landing. Planning efforts are underway to repair aging infrastructure vital to stormwater removal and replacement of illegible headstones began in May 2022. Phased construction will begin in Fall 2026. In preparation for this project a team will conduct a geospatial survey and full inventory of every grave marker. This survey will map, inventory, and describe the conditions of each grave marker. The exact location of the markers will be recorded using a GPS with sub-meter accuracy. Each marker will also be photographed, and all inscriptions recorded. A database will be created to allow park staff to track conditions and treatments of each marker based on its location in the cemetery and assist with research questions and requests for information. The survey team will be out in the cemetery throughout October 2024, for nearly a month. We are replacing the flat roof of our building in Eunice, LA, and conducting several indoor repairs to address the water damage caused by the damaged roof. Once the work is completed, the building will be cleaned to ensure the safety of visitors and staff prior its reopening. Work is expected to continue into Fall 2024.
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Last updated: November 7, 2024