Lakeview residents fight Fleur de Lis Park sale

Photo by Rusty Costanza, Times Picayune

Times Picayune, July 11, 2010

For generations, Fleur de Lis Park in Lakeview has been a haven for the youth of the neighborhood, hosting countless baseball and basketball games and serving as a place for youngsters to play.

So when a for-sale sign appeared in the park late last month, the outcry from residents was loud and immediate. Now, it appears, City Hall, including Mayor Mitch Landrieu and the City Council, is on the neighbors’ side.

The Orleans Parish School Board, which owns the 6-acre plot, decided to put it up for auction, along with 14 other pieces of surplus property, in an effort to avoid a potential deficit in the board’s budget next year.

The minimum bid for the park, which assessor’s office records show is valued at $653,000, is $1 million, according to information from the real estate company that is marketing the School Board properties.

Some Lakeview residents fear that even though the site is zoned for use only as a park, a new owner could try to change the zoning and develop the land, bordered by Fleur de Lis Drive, Avenue A and 38th and 40th streets.

Al Petrie, who has lived in Lakeview for more than 40 years, serves on the Lakeview Civic Improvement Association board and heads up its Green Space Committee. He said the potential sale took the neighborhood by surprise.

“It was pretty upsetting to all of us,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of park space in Lakeview.”

At an association meeting Thursday evening, hundreds of residents showed up to voice their displeasure with the planned sale.

Among those in attendance was School Board member Brett Bonin, whose district includes the park. He, along with fellow board members Ira Thomas and Cynthia Cade, has vowed to fight the sale.

Bonin said he and Thomas went to the meeting with a message they were “hopeful” they could sway at least one more School Board member to vote to remove the park from the auction properties.

He said the sheer number of people who showed up to protest the sale cemented his already firm position.

“Very seldom do you have everyone in one room (speak) with the same voice,” he said. “As an elected official, you have to listen to your constituents when this many people speak this loudly.”

Bonin said he envisions the School Board would continue to own the park while a private group manages it.

A statement issued by the board, though, said its members are dedicated to dumping surplus property to support their education goals.

“It is our hope that these properties can be put in control of organizations or individuals who can convert them to viable assets for our city, allowing (the board) to remain focused on its mission of educating public school students,” the statement said.

School Board President Woody Koppel did not respond to a request for comment.

City Councilwoman Susan Guidry, whose district includes Lakeview, said she was optimistic other arrangements can be made. She said meetings are planned to bring the School Board, park supporters and city leaders together to discuss the park’s future.

Meanwhile, she said, Orleans Parish Public Schools Superintendent Darryl Kilbert is “considering” pulling the property from auction. Kilbert did not return a request for comment.

A joint statement Friday afternoon from Guidry and Landrieu said they are opposed to any action that would change the land’s use.

“We … will use our legislative powers and a veto, if necessary, to make sure that it remains a valuable greenspace,” the statement said.

Landrieu’s brother Martin Landrieu is chairman of a neighborhood committee that has been organizing opposition to the proposed sale.

Bonin said he will continue to discuss the matter with other School Board members but is worried about the time frame he has to do that in.

The auction is scheduled for July 29. The next meeting at which the School Board could vote on the land’s disposition is set for July 28.