Posted on 05/27/2007 6:58:31 PM PDT by kcvl
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Tucked inside a $14.4 billion blueprint for the rebuilding of New Orleans, along with plans to elevate neighborhoods and improve drainage, is a proposal to memorialize Hurricane Katrina with a monument on a "Homeric" scale.
"What will it memorialize? How many people came back?" said Angele Givens, president of the Gentilly Civic Improvement Association.
The proposed memorial is part of a rebuilding plan making its way through city approval processes. While the memorial has far less priority than upgrading drainage and rebuilding neighborhoods over the next decade, it’s still listed among the top projects to revitalize New Orleans.
Troy Henry, project manager for the Unified New Orleans Plan, said planners thought — and the local arts community seems to agree — that a memorial would create a place where people could reflect on the Katrina experience.
Planners describe the scope of the proposed memorial as "Homeric, on the order of the Arch of Triumph" in Paris. "The scale of the project will transform the selected section of town and will reinforce the notion of New Orleans as the most European of American cities and as the leading city of the Caribbean," the UNOP planning team says in its proposal.
Whether the memorial is built remains to be seen. Planners propose private funding, but none has been secured. Besides the $3.5 million building cost, annual upkeep costs of $70,000 are projected. No specific design — or method of choosing one — has been developed.
Planners also don’t specify a location but urges completion by 2018.
Unbelievable. a wailing wall for the American left and poverty pimps.
Will it be made of chocolate?
It will have an atm machine where the residents of New Orleans can withdraw cash from FEMA 24/7.
Flooded school busses?
Fine. Let Haiti have it.
ROFLOL! Yeah, until the money is embezzled by the scions of Chocolate City's political elite!
Like they're going to refuse buckets and buckets of money to create garbage.
Reads like a skillfully worded press release designed to justify having some congressman throw a pork sandwich into the next bill when nobody is looking. Maybe they should look in Representative Jefferson’s freezer first.
No doubt the Memorial will resemble the baby bird in feeding pose symbolizing the feed me , I’ve fell out of my nest, attitude of those too stupid to leave when leaving was good.
As to elevating the city above flood level........based on recent amounts of bullsh*t shoveled there on a day to day basis alone ........that ville should be a mile high city by now.......
just my opinion of course.
Unbelievable, a cheapening of memorials. Memorials are for war veterans and the like, NOT things of this nature. Why there’s even a memorial to AIDs victims for crimony’s sakes. Enough is enough.
On the other hand, it ought to mean that the next time they get hit by a natural disaster, we PAYING TAXPAYERS shouldn’t have to send them any money.
Isn't this typical back-a$$wards?!
I know, how about a statue of the guy with the tub of beer wading in waist deep water. That is the image I remember of Katrina!
Oh please......I wonder if they will they let school out? I recently found out my grandkids have school tomorrow.
Let’s see...wasn’t about a billion bucks donated for Katrina victims? I don’t believe that all of it was used by the other states that were more severely hit directly by the hurricane than NO which was a victim of primarily local political malfeasance. Let em eat chocolate.
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