The Lafon Fountain after its recent restoration by Lower Garden District neighbors. (via Facebook)
In an attempt to broaden its reach within the neighborhood, the historic Coliseum Square Association has decided to begin using a new name: the Lower Garden District Association.
The association was founded in 1972 as part of an effort to gain historic recognition for the area in order to literally save it from destruction by a planned Mississippi River bridge ramp that would have required demolition of much of the neighborhood. That history remained crucial to acknowledge for many of its founding families, even though the association’s work has grown to represent a much broader area since then, said Ryan Kropog, the association’s president.
“The city wanted to put an onramp running right through the neighborhood, essentially right through Coliseum Square,” Kropog said. “”It was really more specific at that time to the Coliseum Square area.”
The boundaries of the association are roughly from Jackson Avenue to the overpass, between St. Charles Avenue and the river — which includes the St. Thomas/River Garden housing developments, the warehouses nearer the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, and the businesses along lower St. Charles Avenue. Earlier this year, the association surveyed its members and found, after 100 responses, that 58 percent felt that “Coliseum Square Association” did not accurately reflect the association’s mission, and that 63 percent believed that the “Lower Garden District Association” could help increase membership and effectiveness, Kropog said.
“What we were continually finding was that people would say to us they thought the Coliseum Square Association did not represent the entire neighborhood, only the square,” Kropog said. “That gave it a perception of exclusivity, that if you weren’t a rich person living on the square, your voice didn’t matter. That couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Following that survey, Kropog said he began meeting individually with some of the founding members about the issue. One of his major concerns, he said, was that some other group could form with the broader boundaries and use the Lower Garden District name, and the Coliseum Square Association might have been unable to stop them and reduced to just a focus on the park.
The association board unanimously voted to embrace the new name in March, but in order to maintain a connection to the past, the association is not actually ridding itself of the Coliseum Square name, Kropog said. Instead, they filed for a trade name of “Lower Garden District Association” to be used synonymously with the former name.
In fact, the well-known old name will remain a part of the public persona of the group for the forseeable future, and is even included in the new logo designed by Fritz Westenberger, Kropog said.
“For the time being, we will use the tag line ‘historically known as the Coliseum Square Association’, both as a helpful reference and as a homage to the long standing success of the organization’s original name,” Kropog said.
They may also use the Coliseum Square name if they apply for grants from the state, for example, because could be more recognizable to officials. The association plans to roll the name out over time, Kropog said, first updating its website and social-media accounts to reflect it.
“We are thrilled with the idea of having a name and a brand that is synonymous with the beautiful and vibrant area it represents,” Kropog said. “We want residents from all corners of the Lower Garden District, new and tenured, to have a voice, and we encourage them to get involved in our organization so that we can work together to achieve great things for this neighborhood.”
The association will still represent the same boundaries, but the new name should feel more inclusive to residents who live farther from Coliseum Square, Kropog said.
“We don’t see a lot of representation at meetings from anyone below Annunciation Street, so we don’t really have any representation from some of those other pockets of the neighborhood,” Kropog said. “That’s just not going to work. We’re the only civic association serving the area, and if we’re going to do that job, we want to do it right. We feel like the more people we get involved, the better off we’re going to be.”
While seeking to represent the entire neighborhood in land-use matters and other issues, the association will also retain its strong focus on protecting Coliseum Square itself. Volunteers from the association’s parks committee are already primarily responsible for maintaining the large central fountain in Coliseum Square, and the association completed a major fundraising campaign this year to restore a second fountain in the park, the LaFon fountain, named for the architect who planned the neighborhood in the 1800s.
The association meets at 6:30 p.m. on the third Monday of each month at Felicity Chuch, with next meeting scheduled for May 21. More information can be found at the association’s website, getlownola.com.
