NEW ORLEANS — It's been a blight on the city, especially for New Orleans East for nearly two decades. Now, the abandoned Six Flags could be reimagined into something bigger and better.
An agreement is finally here. The 227-acre plot of land has sat abandoned since Hurricane Katrina. Now, nature has taken over, with shrubbery and wild animals calling it home.
Councilman Oliver Thomas said this is “the finalization of the first step in the agreement to re-develop the six flags site.”
He went on to say that “this is a major, major step over a major hurdle for a major development site in our community.”
It's hard to imagine Six Flags New Orleans being anything other than abandoned.
It opened back in May of 2000 and then closed in August of 2005.
It has been closed for 18 years, meaning it's been closed longer than it has been open. Now, new opportunities could be here and the park could be re-developed.
“Gives the people out here the confidence that their community matters, it’s a family destination,” Councilman Thomas said.
A development agreement was reached between the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority and Bayou Phoenix. City Council allocated $1 million to mitigate and clean up the site.
“We’re going to pre that site so that growth can happen there we just hope and pray that this deal continues," Councilman Thomas said.
The $500 million plan is huge. Troy Henry with Bayou Phoenix says the project will take 42 months to complete. If things go to plan, he says the rides will be dismantled and demolished this year.
“So the plans are for there to be a sports plex, an indoor/outdoor complex, a couple of hotels, a suite hotel and a traditional hotel, an indoor and outdoor water park, retail and movie studio," Henry said. “We now gotta take site control, have engineering done, soil testing and all the architectural work that has to be done.”
After many failed attempts to revitalize the area, Councilman Thomas says this is win for New Orleans East.
“The fact that 270,000 drive back and forth through here every day with the projections that they have done, the region will benefit,” Councilman Thomas said.
And for a businessman who was born in the lower 9th, Henry says seeing this project through will be a massive accomplishment.
“I get to look at it, this abandoned site out of a few of the rooms in my house, so it will be exciting to see this transformation occur,” Henry said.
Bayou Phoenix will hold a public information session at the end of the month or so, where it will present its master plan.
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