NEW ORLEANS — The mayor's plan to move City Hall to the Municipal Auditorium has been stopped -- for now.
The New Orleans City Council approved a measure Thursday to bar the development of government offices and public safety buildings in Louis Armstrong Park. That measure blocks Mayor LaToya Cantrell's plan to move City Hall to the Municipal Auditorium for at least a year.
The measure passed on a unanimous 7-0 vote.
The vote comes as public opposition to Mayor LaToya Cantrell's proposal to move City Hall into the abandoned Municipal Auditorium grows.
Opponents argue that moving City Hall to the Municipal Auditorium would do more harm to the culture of the Treme neighborhood.
“This is about supporting our heritage and our history, something that we often overlook but we’re not overlooking it anymore,” a protester said during a march against the proposal on June 17.
The Cantrell administration argues that moving City Hall to the long abandoned space would solve two problems by using $38 million in FEMA money set aside to repair the Municipal Auditorium to also upgrade an aging New Orleans City Hall.
The City Council also voted on a resolution in support of a future ordinance that would require City Council approval for any future plans to move City Hall. That resolution also passed unanimously.
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