Introduction

On the agenda at this meeting were various reports to the Commission on the status of the Zoo-to-Doo, the status of the golf course renovation and the plight of the apparently newly-discovered Hyam's Fountain.

Finance Report

The Commission heard 2001 was a great year, with attendance revenue up to $13m and the total number of visitors to all facilities up to 2.2m. The primary sources of revenue were reported to be the Audubon Tea Room and the Zoo.

The Commission was also provided with details of the various funds that have come Audubon's way from the annual Zoo-to-Do. In addition to ticket sales at the door, the annual bash has so far brought in around $820,000 from various sources including both big sponsors and miscellaneous small donations.

At the conclusion of the report, Mr Forman remarked that the success of Zoo-to-Doo including contributions from 5,000 members of the community helps Audubon to go to the City, to the State and to the Federal level for money as it demonstrates the community's widespread involvement and support.

Community Relations Report

The Commission heard about Audubon's "multi-tiered" attempt to reach out to the community and their attempts to gain exposure through community outreach, including attempting to get organizations to use Audubon's facilities, especially the Tea Room, for their events.

The report was concluded with a lengthy analysis of the number of "contacts" made between Audubon staff and the community, within the zoo and at outreach events such as school visits. Using a somewhat Dilbertian vocabulary, the report painted an encouraging picture of "targets" and "projections", increased "contacts" (both "on-site" and "off-site"), and of increased "facility visitation" and "facility usage"; the last apparently meaning "attempting to get organizations to use Audubon's facilities, especially the Tea Room, for their events".

No targets have apparently been set as to how many visitations to the second Tea Room facility across the street are projected, or how many on-site vehicular contact situations will occur on the jogging path.

Grounds Report

The grounds report began with the encouraging revelation that Audubon is about to take a new inventory of the trees in Audubon Park, and will use a computer database to track the location, species and condition of all trees in the park. Audubon will also begin to expand its tree maintenance program in the park including a new initiative to develop a termite control program.

Any proximity between this announcement and recent press coverage of Audubon's neglect of these historic trees was not mentioned, and can only be assumed to be coincidental.

It was also reported that only one bid was received for the renovation of the stables, and was rejected for unspecified technical reasons. The project will be rebid.

The golf course project was reported to be about 3 weeks behind schedule.

The Newman Bandstand and "Lagoon Viewing Plaza" was reported as now completed, and Mr Forman remarked that "it has never looked better".

The subject of the Hyam's Fountain was raised, with a preliminary remark that Audubon wished that "they" had come to Audubon and "gotten our information".

Mr Forman gave a lengthy dissertation on the history of previous attempts by Aududon to solve the problem by fencing the fountain off from the park. He remarked that the plight of the fountain has never been a budgetary issue and that Audubon has the money available to do whatever it wants to do. He declared that public meetings will be held this summer to discuss how the fountain can be resurrected safely. Citing again the legal perils of the 12-inch wading pool as the real reason for its neglect, Mr Forman predicted that possible solutions to be discussed may include fencing it off from the park. It was suggested by one Commission member that some modification to the water flow be considered such that by draining and recirculating more quickly the "wading pool" would become just a "fountain". This suggestion was noted for further consideration.

No explanation was offered as to why the Hyam's Fountain, even with its wading pool, is more dangerous than the fountain at the opposite end of the park or indeed the one that operates regularly a few feet away (inside the zoo). Nor was Mr Rose's question about the relative safety of the 12-inch wading pool versus the new golf course lagoons addressed.

In this discourse, Audubon merely restated its excuse that the fountain is too dangerous to be open unless fenced in, preferably within the zoo. They rejected any inference that they lack the inclination to spend their money on a non revenue generating facility. Therefore, no apparent benefit would have accrued to Chris Rose had he in fact "come to Audubon" and "gotten their information".

Mr Forman noted that 10,000 people a day use Audubon's facilities and that is what Audubon has focussed on. With reference to the Park itself, he remarked that Audubon's philosophy has been "lets not change the character of the park, but let's make it the best park we can make it." He went on to list the soccer fields, the zoo entrance, the swimming pool, drainage improvements, the Newman Bandstand (and Lagoon Viewing Plaza), resurfacing of the jogging path, shelter repairs and the new golf course and clubhouse as examples of this ongoing committment to improving the park.

Apparently, we are meant to see the $6m golf course reconstruction as just one in a long list of publicly beneficial projects. Even in this soft lighting, you might compare the tree inventory/maintenance program that Audubon is just about to launch against the near completion of its $6m golf course renovation and wonder what sense of priorities is this for management of a public park?

Given the inclusion of the hideous Magazine St lion sculptures and the addition of the tawdry "plaza" to the previously classic Newman Bandstand in the list of public works claimed by Mr Forman, his concluding remark that there is "still a lot more to be done" was not necessarily comforting.

Master Plan

Mr Forman revealed that in 2002/2003, the Commission and Institute will "come together" to devise a new Master Plan for Audubon Park. It is not clear if the Commission and Institute will come together alone or in public, hopefully the latter since the blueprint for the new Master Plan currently being developed by the City Planning Commission assigns a high priority to public input at all stages of future development projects. Let us hope that this is what Audubon has in mind.

Old Clubhouse Parking

A resolution was read and passed to close the old clubhouse parking area, keeping a little for golf course maintenance activities and landscaping the rest. This solution was based on discussions with the adjoining neighborhood groups.

LA Law

Commission and Institute attorney Tut Kinney then delivered a report on the Lousiana state law (LA 107A) that the Institute had requested to remove its legal liability for accidents that might occur on the reconfigured Hurst Walk. In doing so, Mr Kinney described the Institute's liability for accidents occuring on Hurst Walk as "arising from increased usage of the golf course".

In fact, this is not the case. The Institute expects only a modest increase in use of the course (from around 33,000 rounds per year to around 37,000 rounds). The increased liability arises from the way in which the course was designed, back when the Institute planned to close the Walk. The orientation of one fairway directly across the walk, and two others very close to it is what has created any increased risk for pedestrians on Hurst Walk.

It is interesting that Mr Kinney at least acknowledges that changes to the golf course are responsible for the creation of a new danger. Even though his "increased usage" argument is not the relevant one, it is an improvement on previous Institute pronouncements that the Walk was always dangerous - an argument debunked many times, for example in Safety is a Bogus Issue and The Statistics are Flying, not to mention their own admission that no one was ever hit by a golf ball on Hurst Walk.

Nonetheless we are disappointed that, instead of making suitable and fairly minor changes to the layout of the golf course in order to retain a safe Hurst Walk, the Institute has preferred to lobby for a contentious change to Louisiana law that specifically and uniquely absolves the City, the State, the Commission and the Institute from liability arising from a danger that they themselves created.

Note that the golfer involved in such an accident on Hurst Walk will not be protected by the new law. Nor will parents whose children stray onto Hurst Walk without having paid enough attention to "Louisiana legal liability statutes and how to get around 'em" in Mrs Jones' 2nd grade civics class.

Full Text of LA107a Here

Change is Good

Ron Forman: Its pretty incredible what's going on! There's a great attitude about change, that change is good.

It is unclear to this writer whether these comments were related to Audubon Park specifically, or to New Orleans as a whole and the recent mayoral election with its focus on patronage and the rejection of entrenched political figures. We certainly hope that some changes will come our way with regard to Audubon and the way it does business.

Ron Forman: You may see a resolution from the City Council where Marlin Gusman has talked about working with the City Planning Commission. We don't believe we need it, but we want to support the city's Master Plan. I am not sure why Mr Gusman feels that way.

Audubon developing a Master Plan? Working with the City Planning Commission to ensure that it's developments are in keeping with the city's Master Plan and wider planning goals developed in conjunction with extensive public input? Oh, you need it...

For more about the issues discussed here, and another review of the meeting, follow these links :

Hurst Walk and LA107A A discussion of the "safety issues" relating to Hurst Walk, the initial proposal to close it and the current status.

Park Walk to Remain in Updated Golf Course 04/29/2002 - Bruce Eggler, Times Picayune Critics who have complained for months about plans to close Hurst Walk as part of a $6 million reconstruction of the Audubon Park golf course can take a bow.