Mayor Freddie DeCourt looks at a Historic District Master Plan rendering in December. DeCourt will be presenting the plan to the public in April. 

New Iberia Mayor Freddie DeCourt is planning a series of town hall meetings in April to educate and immerse the community in the proposed master plan for New Iberia’s National Historic District.

DeCourt said the events will provide a way to review the master plan for downtown and look at all the grants coming to New Iberia, as well as the grants the city is currently pursuing that will affect the National Historic District.

“In addition to that, this is an opportunity to begin marketing our city, some of these events will be videoed to be used in a marketing campaign,” DeCourt said.

The sessions will also be used to start up discussions aimed at creating master plans for each of New Iberia’s council districts. The city council has recently allocated funds for that purpose, with each district’s plan emphasizing shovel-ready projects that can be pursued in the near future.

DeCourt said he hopes to leverage some of the contacts he’s made in working on downtown grants for other parts of New Iberia.

The mayor likened the new series of community meetings to the town halls he put on when the city was pursuing a half-cent sales tax in 2017 to relaunch the New Iberia Police Department.

“It’s a chance to market New Iberia to New Iberia, to show where we’re heading with the first round of products and engage with the community about them,” DeCourt said.

“It’s doing a multitude of things, giving me feedback, getting the community on the same page and marketing us so we can be positive about the direction we’re heading.”

The events will feature the proposed master plan printed on giant vinyl at Bayou Teche Trading Company. The RSVP events have attracted representatives from the Port of Iberia and the Iberia Parish School Board as well as some Baton Rouge groups, DeCourt said.

“It should be fun and give people an idea about the direction we’re going,” DeCourt said.

The forums will take place from April 1 to April 9. To RSVP for a date call 253-2602 or e-mail at hdavid@cityofnewiberia.com.