NEARLY two decades after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is still recovering from its aftermath. An abandoned Six Flags in New Orleans East has served as a reminder of the Louisiana city's struggle. The former theme park had been open for five years before the 2005 hurricane devastated its grounds, leaving an eyesore in its place and a city then too resource-poor to make a fix.
Hopeful businessman and developer Troy Henry and project manager Vincent Williams, however, are looking to change that, according to Nola.com . The pair are part of Bayou Phoenix, a local developer group handpicked by Mayor LaToya Cantrell to bring the park back to life.
The mayor had promised to focus her priority and resources on the project for years, with the city reaching out for developer project ideas in 2021. After listening to three proposed layouts, which include plans for a transportation center paired with a water park, an urban farm, and a renovated water park with hotels and retail, Cantrell settled on the latter. Developers at Bayou Phoenix explained that the endeavor's difficulty was much more layered than simply signing a lease, a step that's taken New Orleans decades.
Put simply, the demolition process is complicated. First, the estimated cost of demolition fluctuates wildly between hundreds of thousands of dollars to tens of millions, according to Scott Hedlund, the executive counsel for TKTMJ, Henry's construction partner. Hedlund explained that this is because no one is certain of t.