[StBernard] LRA Hosts Technical Workshops & Community Forums

[Westley Annis]

LRA Hosts Technical Workshops & Community Forums Public Meetings to be Held
in Hammond, Baton Rouge & Lafayette


BATON ROUGE, La. - The Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) will host
technical workshops and community meetings in Hammond, Baton Rouge and
Lafayette from February 20 to 22, 2006. The workshops and public meetings
are the forums in which Ray Gindroz, of Urban Design Associates (UDA), works
with the local citizens, homebuilders, architects and developers to create
designs for rebuilding the residential and commercial communities affected
by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This series of meetings is one of several
opportunities for Louisiana citizens and community organizations to have an
impact on the Louisiana Speaks planning effort for rebuilding South
Louisiana.

"Patttern Books were used by our grandfathers and great grandfathers to
build the traditional neighborhoods that we all love," said Gindroz. "UDA's
job is to create one for today that will help homeowners, builders, and
developers as they repair and rebuild in Coastal communities. 

"The workshop will be an opportunity for all to speak about the qualities of
your towns and houses that you value the most and would like to see
continued as we rebuild, as well as those things that you would like to see
improved. A second round of workshops will be held in March to present a
preliminary version of the Pattern Book and to test it by developing sketch
designs using it. These will be discussed in public sessions. The Pattern
Book will be published in April and available to the public," Gindroz
continued.

UDA will focus on innovative building practices to assist individuals and
professionals in rebuilding safer, stronger and "greener" communities in
South Louisiana. Duany Plater-Zyberk (DPZ) created plans for the affected
regions during the planning sessions, or "charrettes", in Lake Charles and
Lafayette. In a few months, a toolkit that provides designs to support the
DPZ plans will be widely distributed by LOUISIANA SPEAKS. The public will
have the opportunity to review typical South Louisiana housing examples and
provide input on developing the hurricane affected region. 

Technical workshops will be held from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in each of the
locations to be followed by a citizen workshop from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. 

Three locations have been selected: 

*	Hammond at the Southeast Louisiana Business Center, located at 1514
Martens Drive on February 20, 2006; 
*	Baton Rouge at the BREC Independence Park Tennis Center, located at
549 Lobdell Street on February 21, 2006; and 
*	Lafayette at the Frem F. Boustany Convention Center Ballroom II,
located at 1372 South College Road on February 22, 2006. 

Professional homebuilders, architects and developers are invited to
participate in these workshops. After each technical workshop, the public is
encouraged to attend a meeting from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. to provide their
feedback on the architectural styles and images that are typical of South
Louisiana. Residents of the surrounding parishes of Hammond, Baton Rouge and
Lafayette are also encouraged to attend the public sessions. For a more
detailed schedule, visit http://www.louisianaspeaks.org/
<http://keelson.eatel.net/websites/la.gov/action.cfm?md=communication&task=a
ddClick&msg_ID=1015&ID=dzj%3Bk5mKlxm%29&redirect=http://www.louisianaspeaks.
org/> . 

These workshops and meetings represent the next phase of the Louisiana
Speaks planning effort, which is a multi-faceted planning process designed
to develop a sustainable long-term vision for South Louisiana in the wake of
the destruction caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The LRA has partnered
with Long Term Community Recovery (LTCR) Teams and local officials to
develop parish-level recovery plans for 19 of the most heavily impacted
parishes in South Louisiana. These parish recovery plans will be used to set
funding priorities for the recovery effort and will also be used to form a
baseline for the regional vision. 

On January 19, Governor Blanco and the LRA introduced the state's team of
world-renowned planners, designers and architects as the second phase of the
Louisiana Speaks planning effort. The planning team is working with cities
and towns across South Louisiana to develop a long-term regional vision for
rebuilding. 

For further information on the UDA workshops and meetings, visit the website
at http://www.louisianaspeaks.org/
<http://keelson.eatel.net/websites/la.gov/action.cfm?md=communication&task=a
ddClick&msg_ID=1015&ID=dzj%3Bk5mKlxm%29&redirect=http://www.louisianaspeaks.
org/>  or the Louisiana Recovery Authority website at
http://www.lra.louisiana.gov/
<http://keelson.eatel.net/websites/la.gov/action.cfm?md=communication&task=a
ddClick&msg_ID=1015&ID=dzj%3Bk5mKlxm%29&redirect=http://www.lra.louisiana.go
v/> .

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated South Louisiana, destroying more than
200,000 homes and 18,000 businesses and inflicting about $25 billion in
insured losses. 

The LRA is a 26-member body appointed by Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco
to identify and prioritize short- and long-term needs of the recovery. It
will seek out and value local input as it plans and implements the recovery.


The LRA is supported by the LRA Support Foundation, a private, nonprofit
organization that has raised private funds to secure the current team of
world-renowned planners and experts who are responsible for developing plans
for rebuilding South Louisiana. 





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