Plan calls for a vet memorial, amphitheater, dog park
Described as a project “near and dear” to St. Charles Parish President V.J. St. Pierre Jr.’s heart, a Veterans Memorial and Community Park in Luling will be part of the new business for the incoming Council next year.
A proposal to hire Civil and Environmental Consulting Engineers in Luling to provide design services for the project was tabled at the Dec. 14 Parish Council meeting. But Council President Larry Cochran, also parish president-elect, along with the council assured St. Pierre they would act on the project next year.
According to St. Pierre, “When I first became parish president, I spoke to Judge [Edward] Dufresne about his vision for the land he had donated to the parish. His only real request was that whatever was built would benefit everyone – from youth to teens and adults through senior citizens.”
The parish doesn’t have a memorial to honor local veterans, he said.
“So, with those factors in mind, we decided to begin the large community park project planned for the land surrounding the Edward A. Dufresne Community Center with a veterans memorial,” St. Pierre said.
Other project phases planned for the future include a spray park, dog park, skate park and amphitheater, amongst other amenities.
St. Pierre said, “This is a project that has the potential to truly take our recreational assets to the next level for the benefit of all residents.”
At the council meeting, Cochran acknowledged the importance of the memorial to St. Pierre, who is a Vietnam vet, but he said the incoming council wants input in the project.
Chief Administrative Officer Buddy Boe said the project is intended to provide a destination park, which will include the $520,000 veterans’ memorial that is proposed to include five walls representing the five branches of the military. The walls would be done as funding is available over the next 20 to 50 years.
Boe said the project has been in discussions for 1-1/2 years.
Phase 1 of the park plan calls for the memorial and a retention pond, which Boe said would also lower project cost by providing fill and drainage. It also includes parking, including handicap parking, some gravel parking that in future phases could be surfaced.
Phase 2 of the project calls for an arched feature to the park, which he said would repeat the area’s iconic bridge theme and what he called the swoop “is another nod to the bridge.”
“Our intention is that first conceptual design of the master design community park is intended as a destination,” Boe said.
A cost estimate for the entire park is not available because future council members will have their input in how the project will be done. But Boe did say they envisioned the project to be completed in the next five to 10 years.
Although the park is still conceptual, plans also call for a 2,500-square-foot amphitheater, a dog park, a monkey hill feature, a large walking path and outdoor pavilion that would go over the water, but also serve as an extension of the Edward A. Dufresne Community Center to allow indoor and outdoor events.
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