Thanks to nearly $3 million in private and federal grant dollars, City Park officials say they have the cash needed to start work on the Great Lawn, envisioned as a "commons" for New Orleans and the centerpiece of a transformed corridor to be built during the next several years.

City Park's master plan, scheduled to be completed by the city's 300th anniversary in 2018, calls for the swath of greenery to anchor what will be called Tricentennial Place. "We see it as a sort of focal point in the center of the park where people can congregate," said Bob Becker, the park's chief executive officer.

"It will be a place to meet, picnic or throw a Frisbee, smooch, hang out, read a book or sunbathe. All the kinds of things that people like to do in a big open area."

Becker said the Great Lawn will tie into many of the park's signature attractions, including Storyland and the children's amusement area. It will be bordered on one side by the Peristyle and on the other by a new fountain or a large sculpture, or possibly a combination of both features. Tricentennial Place will stretch from Marconi Drive to the Bestoff Sculpture Garden.

With the money in hand, Becker said plans call for construction on the Great Lawn to begin by December and to be completed in less than a year.

The three-acre expanse -- about one and a half times the size of a football field -- will be sodded with Bermuda grass and ringed by benches, palms and sidewalks.

The Great Lawn represents one of three major components planned for Tricentennial Place, which park officials hope will transform an unsightly mishmash of crumbling parking lots, tennis courts and trailers that have housed the park's staff since Hurricane Katrina swamped its administrative headquarters.

To accommodate the promenade, City Park's tennis courts will be demolished and relocated to Marconi north of Interstate 610. Plans call for the new tennis complex, which will be built with state capital outlay dollars, to be finished before the existing courts are demolished.

The first step will be the Great Lawn, which Becker describes as a "commons" for New Orleans.

A pair of $1 million grants from the Woldenberg Foundation and the Goldring Family Foundation will be used to create the public space. The park also plans to use an $800,000 grant from the Federal Highway Administration and $200,000 of its own money to build a 200-space, landscaped parking lot adjacent to the Great Lawn.

City Park leaders have not secured money for the other primary elements of Tricentennial Place -- an amphitheater and a children's splash park -- but officials say they are optimistic that breaking ground on the Great Lawn will lead to more government and foundation support. Park officials estimate the cost of the amphitheater and it supporting facilities at $4.5 million and the water park at $3.1 million.

"Certainly money follows success," said Paul Masinter, president of the City Park Improvement Association. "With this generous gift for the Great Lawn, hopefully others will recognize the good work we're doing for the city, whether it's private donors, the state or the city. Once this project is built, I think people will be blown away by that area."

When additional parking and infrastructure improvements are factored in, the total price tag for the 19-acre Tricentennial Place will be about $13 million.

Although the Great Lawn will be open to the public, the park's director of development, John Hopper, said he anticipates an admission fee for the splash park. He said the amphitheater likely will host a mix of free and paid events.

Other possible additions down the road could include a festival market, a small restaurant, children's theater and a miniature golf course.

"The whole theory of Tricentennial Place is to link all these various attractions, from the art museum to the sculpture garden to the botanical garden to all these new features, and make our park a more attractive place to come," Becker said.

"We want the Great Lawn to be the first place people think of when they want to get away and enjoy the outdoors."

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