In an effort to curb protests, trespassing, and vandalism, the board of commissioners overseeing New Orleans City Park wants to erect a barricade around its controversial new golf course.
The $24.5 million, 18-hole "championship-level" golf course is slated to be complete in February, and it's expected to be the new location for the Zurich Classic golf tournament once the company's contract with TPC Louisiana, the golf course in Avondale, expires in 2019. And recently, Zurich Insurance Group helped fund a project that will turn City Park's lagoons into rainwater retention ponds.
Some are concerned that the golf course represents a trend of commercializing New Orleans' parks and public spaces. Last March, two men protested the new golf course by climbing trees within the construction site, and the group City Park for Everyone Coalition brought a federal suit against New Orleans City Park and FEMA in an attempt to stop the construction.
• Concerned with vandalism, City Park’s board considers barricades around new golf course [Mid-City Messenger]
• New Orleans' Nine Most Endangered Sites [Curbed NOLA]
• City Park Lagoons to Be Used as Giant Rainwater Retention Ponds [Curbed NOLA]