David Fuselier, a real estate developer, wants to put a multi-use development that will include a grocery store, single-family houses and condominiums on 10 acres in Algiers Point. The property was once home to a local steam locomotives manufacturer.

The 10-acre site, located at 1200 Opelousas Ave, is the biggest undeveloped piece of land on Algiers Point. Unfortunately, contaminants were found on the land from decades of diesel fuel spills but in December 2020 after the issue had been rectified, Louisiana issued a certificate of completion.

In January 2020 Fuselier and his partners his sister, Megan Fuselier Spiehler; Stuart Coleman; and Andrew
Coleman, purchased the land for close to $3.9 million. They plan to begin construction in the Fall of 2021 and is slated to complete in two years. The partners hired architecture firm Concordia and will hold a meeting with the architect firm and the public for input.

If approved by the New Orleans Planning Commission and the City Council, they plan to build a 22,000-square-foot grocery store with a rooftop restaurant and bar. Although they have not signed with any grocery store tenant, they feel optimistic.

“We’ll have one soon,” Fuselier said. “We’re going to be talking to every local and national grocery tenant we can think of. There’s gonna be a lot of effort put into attracting the best that we can find.”

Plans show there will be 24 lots for single-family housing, 24 units for military veterans and 204 condo units for “workforce” housing priced at 60% to 120% of area median income.

“It’s really targeting people who do not qualify for other subsidy programs … but still need housing,” Fuselier said. “A lot of people are priced out of the market, and  we’re looking to bring opportunities for homeownership at affordable price.”

Click Here For the Source of the Information.

Belle Chasse Academy is giving its students the opportunity to learn through the school’s culinary garden and teaching kitchen. The school follows the unique teaching method that incorporates food into traditional math, science, and social studies. Students can learn about botany, nutrition and Native American culture through food such as corn.

The Victory Garden is partially backed by the Emeril Lagasse Foundation and is the “nature-based classroom.” Emeril’s Culinary Garden & Teaching Kitchen, founded by Emeril Lagasse, incorporate gardening and cooking into regular school curriculums. The program enriches the lives of kids through a fun, fresh perspective on food. The program is used throughout elementary and middle schools around the country.

The crops which include this spring collard greens, cucumbers, carrots, tomato vines and peppers are surrounded by a butterfly garden. The butterfly garden serves as the pollinator garden and is filled with flowers. The garden also features several hydroponics systems that are in a greenhouse-like structure. Certain types of food such as bib lettuce is grown in a nutrient-rich water solution instead of soil.

During the year students plant and harvest the crops. While working with the crops students learn math skills, science skills and social studies skills. Math is learned from measuring ingredients in the kitchen classroom, social studies are learned by studying where each crop comes from and science is learned through proper food nutrition. A great hands-on example is Chef Ryan Galle, Belle Chasse Academy’s culinary education coordinator, recently guided his students through a lesson on how food provides them with energy.

“A light bulb goes off. A lot of times they think culinary arts is just pulling out a pan or a pot and putting some food in it, and that’s it. The kids really enjoy it, said Galle, a native New Orleanian. “This is one of the best concepts of hands-on learning because it gets them out of the classroom. They get fresh air. The experience brings a lot of children out of their shells.”

Click Here For the Source of the Information.