Work on the George Rodrigue pocket park continues in downtown New Iberia. On Monday, city workers poured cement for the entranceway to the site honoring the late George Rodrigue, a renowned artist from New Iberia. 

Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, work is continuing on the George Rodrigue pocket park and Doc Voorhies renovations at the Bayou Teche Museum in New Iberia.

Mayor Freddie DeCourt said city workers poured concrete for entranceway into the pocket park Monday afternoon. DeCourt also said the contractor for the project soon will be able to start work on the project. 

DeCourt said the funds were secured recently to finish that phase of the park, and organizers are hoping for a July finish to that part of the project. 

Afterward, renovations to the Doc Voorhies wing of the Bayou Teche Museum will continue.

The two projects are tied to a larger revitalization project in downtown New Iberia. The George Rodrigue Park is the second pocket park to be built on Main Street, and is being constructed to honor the late George Rodrigue, an internationally acclaimed artist from New Iberia famous for his Blue Dog paintings. 

The park is being funded with a mixture of local, state and private funding and will include a Blue Dog sculpture and space for art.

The Doc Voorhies Wing is part of the Bayou Teche Museum, New Iberia’s only museum that holds exhibits about local industry and people connected to Iberia Parish. 

Both have been under construction for several years. The projects, located on Main Street, come after the Church Alley pocket park that was built recently on Main Street, turning a renovated alley in downtown into an area with benches, signage and an official bicycle trail that goes to New Iberia City Park and wraps around back to Main Street via Lewis Street.