The Louisiana Recovery Authority and Office of Community Development published an action plan amendment for public comment Friday. Among the stuff they’re proposing is the the construction of the “Medical Center of Louisiana – New Orleans,” also called MCLNO — not to be confused with MCNO of course! The MCLNO is the BIG hospital planned for the Tulane/Gravier neighborhood. We all know this is a part of Mid-City, which just happens to be on the other side of Broad. The construction of the MCLNO is an important issue all Mid-Citizens should care about. Let’s see it done right.
The public comment period will conclude at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, January 8. That gives us a week to voice any concerns. Public comments appear to be taken over the internet.
You can find the actual proposal here:
http://www.doa.louisiana.gov/cdbg/dractionplans.htm
It’s the “Proposed Action Plan Amendment No. 1 for Disaster Recovery Funds Allocated by P.L. 109-234” which is available as a PDF.
There’s also a link for public comment:
http://www.doa.louisiana.gov/cdbg/dramend1-2comment.htm
So… What to say? Well, say what you like of course, but the people who live closest to the site have thought about it the most. The Phoenix of New Orleans group (aka PNOLA) has been mighty active in this area since the levee failures of 2005. I’ve consulted with Paul Ikemire of PNOLA to craft the following five points which I am pasting below. Please feel free to use any or all of these points when you make your comment. It only takes a minute!
- The housing and community facilities between Galvez – S. Roman – Palmyra and Cleveland should be preserved. This includes the school for health careers and Deutches Haus on Galvez.
- The community should be involved through direct participation and through dialog with two organizations in particular that are active in the neighborhood: Phoenix of New Orleans and Tulane/Canal Neighborhood Development Corporation. There should be housing, security and economic incentives for attracting staff and students to the neighborhood area.
- Green infrastructure should be incorporated into land use plan in order to absorb and improve flood control issues in the Tulane/Gravier neighborhood.
- The preferred location of main hospital towers and ER should be along Poydras OR proper sound barrier and design measures should be used to buffer the activity between the main hospitals and the housing units within the footprint area and the Galvez Promenande cultural and open space corridor (along Galvez St).
- Urgent Care and Primary Care facilities should be available to low-income and uninsured residents, in coordination with community clinics and advocacy centers within the surrounding downtown area.