Coalition seeks input from community on future of Municipal Auditorium

By Meghan Holmes
Contributing Writer

Last week, the Save Our Soul’s coalition held three public meetings seeking input on the future of Armstrong Park’s municipal auditorium. The meetings come in the wake of community resistance to the Cantrell administration’s plans to relocate City Hall into the blighted auditorium, taking advantage of almost $40 million in FEMA funds allocated to restoring the building in the process.

After Cantrell announced the project via social media in June, thousands gathered in protest and, in early July, the administration paused the project for 90 days to seek public input.

Last Tuesday and Wednesday, the coalition held visioning workshops at Joseph A. Craig elementary in the Tremé to gather, “thoughts, answers and ideas as to what should happen to the site,” said Cheryl Austin with the Greater Tremé Consortium, at Wednesday’s meeting.

“The Save Our Souls coalition opposes the mayor’s proposal to relocate City Hall to the municipal auditorium. We feel like the threat of the government imposing on this neighborhood must stop. We don’t want to hear about another developer or governmental agency wanting to come into Treme. So it’s important that you all speak about what you would like to happen there.”

Armstrong Park’s construction in the 1960’s displaced hundreds of Tremé residents, something that some people in the Tremé remember well and don’t want to see happen again.

“The house I was raised in is part of the footprint of Armstrong Park,” Austin said. “As an adult looking back, all you can see is what’s missing now. I’m standing here because of my experiences. We may not be able to go back to the way things were, but we definitely can have some kind of cultural resilience, and that’s what we are trying for now. We have lost too much already. This site is so important to me, my friends, and my family. We have endured threats to this place for 50 years.”

In the antebellum era, Armstrong Park’s Congo Square served as a gathering place for African Americans and, for many of those enslaved, provided one of their only opportunities to celebrate African-American culture and spirituality. Many ideas generated at the coalition’s visioning workshops reflected that history, focusing on showcasing the art, poetry, music, dance and foodways of Black New Orleanians.

“We had to throw a march at City Hall to get the mayor’s attention,” Austin said. “It took thousands of people coming out to the streets to be seen so she could understand we are really serious. Tremé is the soul of our city and our nation’s cultural lifeblood. We must continue to protect and preserve it.”

City council members Kristen Palmer and Helena Moreno attended Wednesday’s event, with both publicly pledging to listen to the ideas generated in person as well as through surveys Save Our Souls will collect until August 6 and submit to both the mayor and council. The survey can be accessed online at www.surveymonkey.com/r/SZ-B2XMR.

“There is going to be a void, in terms of what happens next, and we are seeing that now,” Councilwoman Palmer told event attendees. “That’s why meetings like this are really important to find out what it is the community wants, and not just Tremé but also greater New Orleans. I am committed to bringing this information to the council and making sure it’s part of the public record. Everyone really needs to come together right now, because we don’t want to lose that $38 million. That money should be used right now to solidify the building, to protect the building, until we have a good pathway forward. That’s what I want to see. For those who say that can’t be done, we did the same thing with the St. Roch Market. This has been done before. The Cantrell administration can petition the federal government for an extension.”

Many of those opposed to moving City Hall to Treme agree that city employees need a new space, but remain committed to keeping the project outside of the historic neighborhood.

“They have the funds and several locations where City Hall can either be constructed or renovated,” Austin said. “City Park and Audubon Park know they’re going to be there. The World War II museum will be there. What about funding for Congo Square? And Armstrong Park? There isn’t enough. Why wasn’t a cultural center considered at the municipal auditorium? We need a place where our spirits, as they once did in the past, can run free, and to share the magic of our culture.”

This article originally published in the August 2, 2021 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.