New Iberia Mayor Freddie DeCourt talks about numerous projects associated with the Master Plan. 

Downtown New Iberia is the heart of several projects that have been the focus of Mayor Freddie DeCourt’s attempt to revitalize the city, and a recently adopted master plan aims to put all of those projects together in an interconnected way. 

The New Iberia City Council approved the brand new master plan earlier this month, after a presentation from DeCourt and five to six months of work to create a vision for downtown that ties in all of the projects DeCourt’s administration has been trying to realize. 

Although the city of New Iberia previously had a master plan, DeCourt said a new one was needed for practical purposes. 

“We have a different philosophy, this is a practical master plan,” DeCourt said Saturday. “It’s much more project-oriented. Let’s survey the landscape of grant money and see what we can do.”

Working with Director of Planning and Zoning Braud and local architect Paul Allain, DeCourt and his administration have spent months fleshing out several project ideas, some of which have been in his head for more than 20 years. 

“What I’ve found with all the other master studies, they were too pie in the sky,” DeCourt said. “You ran across people who didn’t even know they were part of it. We’re trying to concentrate on projects where we’re shovel ready and we have a match.”

Although there are projects on the list that aren’t funded yet, DeCourt said the plan is to create an interconnected set of projects that will appeal not only to local residents, but also to state and federal grant programs that can see the administration is trying to do. 

Some of the projects listed on the new Master Plan include: 

• A Fulton Street shoreline park that will connect boating traffic to downtown New Iberia. 

• A Bouligny Plaza visitor information center located where the bathrooms are in Bouligny Plaza. 

• An amphitheater and stage that will expand the Steamboat Warehouse Pavilion. 

• A statue of Dave Robicheaux, the character from James Lee Burke’s book series, in Bouligny Plaza. 

• A “market row” complete with a structure to host various community market events and support local vendors. 

• A Veterans War Memorial in Bouligny Plaza. 

• Refurbishments to the gazebo in Bouligny Plaza. 

• Additional parallel parking options for Main Street. 

Other items on the list have been talked about by city administration for the past three years, like the George Rodrigue Pocket Park and Doc Voorhies wing expansion in the Bayou Teche Museum. 

A Civic Center Marina and pocket park are on the list as well, along with a sanitary pump-out systems that will allow boaters to empty their septic systems behind City Hall. 

The projects range all over the National Historic District, and DeCourt said there have even been considerations to improving the St. Peter Street side of downtown with streetscaping and parking striping. 

Other projects include enhancements, like the completion of the second phase of the Church Alley project and a refurbishment to the marquee at the Sliman Theater. 

The Duperier Avenue Bridge is also included to be refurbished with fresh paint, cleaned surfaces and new vintage light-pole fixtures. Artistically rendered letters spelling “New Iberia, Louisiana” would also be added to the bridge to welcome boat traffic and pedestrians. 

“We have some that are proposed, some that are happening and some where we are seeking funding,” DeCourt said. “It’s all to interconnect our downtown and all these projects and come up with something where we can say this is where we’re heading.”

The mayor added that a downtown master plan is only the first step, and thanks to extra money received from the Louisiana Workers Compensation Corporation, DeCourt will be working with members of the City Council to come up with a master plan for each district of New Iberia. 

“It’s all about interconnecting all of these projects, it shows we do have a plan and we’re heading somewhere that improves our community,” DeCourt said.