- On Wednesday, June 5 a groundbreaking ceremony took place for the new, Ann Street neighborhood 'pocket park.'
- The new park is located on the corner of Ann St. and Twenty Arpent Rd. in New Iberia. It is set to be complete within a year.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A brand new ‘pocket park' is being built on the corner of Ann street and Twenty Arpent Road, in New Iberia. This $350,000 investment will bring a playground, basketball court, fitness equipment, and more, to an area that the city council says, "sorely needs it."
“We're not a bank," said Mayor Freddie DeCourt. "So all those tax dollars that we collect need to be reinvested in the community; and it's a balancing act between streets, between sewer infrastructure, and between quality of life. If you're gonna maintain your citizens, if you're gonna keep them here, quality of life is well-worth the investment. Quality of life is economic development."
This is the first time in 30 years that the City of New Iberia has directly invested in the community. Other ongoing projects include expanding the Steamboat Pavilion at Bouligny Plaza, renovating both the West End and Bank Avenue parks and installing new fitness equipment, continuing renovations on lighting and playing fields at the Pepperplex, and gearing up to put in a new skate park.
“...It's in the tens of millions easily," said architect David Allain of Paul J. Allain Architecture, "and there are more projects coming." Allain tells KATC that the new park was designed to "maximize the property and get the most bang for their buck."
"I'm a resident of this community, I was born and raised here. So, being able to take my design expertise and work with the city to come up with these ideas...it's a great feeling to be able to give back to the community."
