New Orleans officials announced at a meeting Thursday night that construction on Lincoln Beach, a historic site closed for more than 60 years, will begin this December.
“We learned to swim in Lincoln Beach,” Claudia Smith, who attended the meeting, said Thursday. “One of the things that I remember most was riding the Wild Mouse; that was the most thrilling ride to me.”
“I used to go every Sunday,” New Orleans East native Emelda Brazley said. “If we didn’t go to church, we couldn’t go to the beach … and then my mama used to change our church clothes, put us on some little shorts and bring us to the beach.”
Beverly Castillo said she remembers traveling to visit Lincoln Beach from her native Houma once in the 1950s.
“I remember all the fun we had splashing in the water, playing, and just a whole lot of fun,” Castillo said.
City engineers said this winter shovels will be in the ground to start the first phase of construction, which will include road paving and the creation of a parking lot. The project has $15 million available in local, federal, and state funding, with the planned opening set for late next fall.
At Thursday’s meeting, community members asked why this number is lower than the city’s previously announced total of more than $20 million.
“My job is to open the beach,” New Orleans Chief Sustainability Officer Meagan Williams told the community at Thursday night’s meeting. “What we have available is $15 million, and I say that very distinctly, because that is why we are only doing the infrastructure that is required to get people on the beach. can’t promise you more than I can actually fund.”
Lincoln Beach was a historically Black beach during the Jim Crow era, a popular destination for Black New Orleanians when other beaches were segregated. The city said the beach closed in 1964 after the Civil Rights Act was passed and integration efforts began.
“When Pontchartrain Beach opened up, that’s when Lincoln Beach started to decline with integration,” Smith said. “That was the bigger and the more popular beach. So, everybody started going there and as a result, lost a lot of the visitors and as a result, closed up eventually.”
Community members, including Sage Michael Pellet, started restoration efforts in 2020.
“During COVID, during the time what we saw a lot of, like, divestment and people needed hope. During that time, we saw that Lincoln Beach was a good trouble protest that we could get into to restore it, help the people enjoy it,” Pellet said.
The city said the 15-acre peninsula on Lake Pontchartrain is in disrepair due to neglect and hurricane damage.
“The loudest thing that we heard is ‘Open the beach,'” Williams said.
While questions about amusement rides, operating hours, and special events could not be answered Thursday, Williams announced the historic beach sign will be recreated.
“We are trying to make sure that what we put back up is a symbol of what this beach once was, and what will be for years to come,” Williams said.
One message seems to ring true for everyone who wants to see the beach back up and running.
“This beach is for everyone,” Smith said.
Another community meeting is scheduled for November to provide updates on the project. Williams said project leaders want to avoid opening the beach and having to close it again for more construction, so the beach will be closed until all three phases of construction are done.
READ MORE:‘My job is to open the beach’: Long-awaited Lincoln Beach restoration to begin in December
