Rebuilding Veterans Memorial Boulevard

By Lindsay Houts, consultant to Pavestone Company

A main parade route for the annual Mardi Gras celebration, the redeveloped neutral grounds on Veterans Blvd. have made ample space for spectators. Photos courtesy of Pavestone Company

After Hurricane Katrina devastated much of Louisiana in 2005, the cities that made up Jefferson Parish, La. were bruised but not as battered as New Orleans and the cities of Orleans Parish.

The eventual rebuilding effort for the New Orleans area was largely based outside of Jefferson Parish, and as Jefferson Parish turned to its own cleanup efforts, the Parish made a significant decision to invest in Veterans Memorial Boulevard in the city of Metairie, La.

The unique design of the landscaped areas allows for elongated freestanding and retaining walls that add shape and movement to Veterans Blvd.

Veterans Memorial Boulevard is a six-lane highway that spans more than seven miles and serves more than 50,000 cars per day in an area that was dubbed a Critical Protection Zone. Easily the most highly trafficked stretch of roadway in the Parish, Veterans Memorial Boulevard is home to commercial space from retail to restaurants and boutiques to box stores. The significant thing about this long stretch of retail is the lease agreement that every business has with the Parish for the right-of-ways in front of their spaces. These fees, called Commercial Overlay Zone fees, provide funding that is exclusively for the development and beautification of the thoroughfare, and after Hurricane Katrina, the Parish thought the time was right to do a massive overhaul of their Boulevard.

Due to the size of the boulevard and because of the daily volume of traffic, the project was divided into several phases, breaking ground in 2006. Its fifth phase was completed in July 2011, and Brian Nicholson, Director of Streets for Jefferson Parish, expects 3-4 additional phases to complete the project in its entirety. Much of the work has happened on the ''neutral ground,'' or the medians of the boulevard, making safety a top priority as thousands of cars pass by the contractors every day.

Free standing and retaining walls add extra dimension to the neutral spaces along Veterans Blvd., helping to create the beautiful landscape that Jefferson Parish wanted.

With a significant amount of money set aside for this project and with the guarantee of the replenishment of those funds for continued maintenance, the landscape architects at Greg Cantrell, Inc. were able to create a world-class redesign for Jefferson Parish. Ted Anthony, owner of Anthony's Architectural Landscape Construction and one of the main contractors on this project explained that each phase of the project included landscape design, lighting and electrical, irrigation, and the installation of free-standing walls, retaining walls and pavers.

Pavestone Company hardscape products were selected, Nicholson explained, at the call of Bryan Parks, one of the landscape architects with Greg Cantrell, Inc., who worked with a team of three others on the Boulevard's redesign. More than 4,000 face feet of Anchor™ Highland Stone® retaining wall system and Anchor™ Highland Stone® Freestanding Wall and more than 2,500 square feet of Holland Stone pavers were used throughout the redesign. Rob Hazard and Dylan Slotemaker of Twin Shores Landscape & Construction Services were the contractors on the first and fifth phases of the project, and were pleased with the product after having used Pavestone in all of their early samples.

''Ancestry, Affection, and Destiny,'' one of George Rodrigue's ''Blue Dog'' pieces, sits at Veterans Blvd. and Severn Ave., surrounded by palms, grasses and walking path.

Significant sculptures and pieces of free-standing art stand out through the boulevard, from the art of Louisiana native Greg Rodrigue and his ''Blue Dog'' statue, to pieces like New York artist Alexander Liberman's ''Trace,'' originally made in 1967. Installed pieces have not come at a cost to taxpayers, as citizens have stepped forward to purchase and loan the pieces to the city, and separate funding has been independently raised or drawn from the Commercial Overlay Zone monies. Parks expects that at its completion, Veterans Memorial Boulevard will include at least a dozen unique public art installations.

The community response has been positive throughout Jefferson Parish, especially as the Mardi Gras season returns each year in Louisiana. Veterans Memorial Boulevard is a major Mardi Gras parade route, and has a tamer feel than the parade that slinks through New Orleans. Families can make themselves comfortable on the newly redesigned neutral grounds to enjoy Mardi Gras, spreading out blankets to bask in the landscaping and artwork that now makes up a seven-mile stretch of Metairie.