KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, LouisianaBig Changes On The Way For Lake Charles?

Big Changes On The Way For Lake Charles?

February 8, 2006
Reported by Vince Atkinson

The two major storms that ripped through south Louisiana this past hurricane season left a huge job in their wake. The Louisiana Recovery Authority is working up and down the Bayou State's gulf coast trying to help pick up the pieces. A huge group of designers are in Lake Charles right now, working on plans that could literally change the face of downtown Lake Charles.

The Louisiana Recovery Authority has chosen downtown Lake Charles as a model to learn how to recover after a hurricane. The team that is coming up with the plans has only been in Lake Charles a few days, but already they have some preliminary plans that were unveiled Wednesday afternoon. 

Maps are being examined, ideas are being drawn up, and then drawn again in Lake Charles. It is all part of a huge undertaking by a team of city planners. Their goal is to make downtown Lake Charles even better than before Hurricane Rita.  The group is using an entirely new vision. Architect Andres Duany says, "The care with which landscaping is done and the maintenance of suburbia, there is a new standard that Americans expect."

Architect Susan Henderson is part of the "dream team" of urban developers working in Lake Charles.  Henderson says, "I think the city is ready to implement very, very fast. So I think you will see some good things in a hurry."  Already, preliminary plans are being put on display.  The plans providing a glimpse into the future of what downtown Lake Charles may one day look like.

With hurricane relief funding possibly on the way, some are already becoming optimistic. Lori Marinovich with the Lake Charles Downtown Development Authority says, "We are going to have the premier urban area between San Francisco and Jacksonville, Florida."  Any ideas concering downtown Lake Charles will first have to be approved through a city wide election that will most likely take place sometime very soon.  Marinovich says, "The developers will need to be ready to go within six to nine months from today."

This Saturday the public will have a chance to see the finalized plans the design team comes up with. You can see the designs for yourself at the Lakefront Hotel in Lake Charles starting at 3:30 in the afternoon.