NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)—The disagreement on where City Hall should be located continues. After Mayor Latoya Cantrell proposed moving it to the Municipal Auditorium, a big part of the community pushed back, strongly disagreeing.
Protesters are planning to be on the steps of City Hall at 9:30 A.M. ahead of the New Orleans City Council meeting.
Their goal is to get enough people here to get the council’s attention. The group of protesters is trying to convince the New Orleans Council to “Rethink City Hall” and not move it to the municipal auditorium. Those residents are worrying that it will ruin the Treme neighborhoods.
The question is will their voices and actions be enough to rally the city council members in their favor.
According to the Mayor’s Office, the current location of city hall near Duncan Plaza Downtown is costing too much money to upkeep. They say a better alternative is the Louis Armstrong Municipal Auditorium.
According to the Cantrell Administration, moving City Hall to the long-abandoned space would solve two problems. They say, by using $38 million in FEMA money set aside to repair the municipal auditorium would fix one problem and also allow for upgrades to an aging New Orleans City Hall.
Amid the unrest with the citizens, Mayor Cantrell is beginning to back away from her original idea, saying quote: “We are open to other options for the relocation of City Hall.”
Thursday, July 1, at 10: 00 a.m., at the New Orleans City Council, is when the meeting takes place. The residents say they are planning to attend the meeting with hopes to get their message across peacefully.
We’ll have an update from the protest on WGNO News at 11:00 a-m and check digital-staging.wgno.com for the latest updates.