The New Orleans Lakefront is getting a facelift, since the storm surge of Hurricane Katrina damaged its shores, and a multi-million dollar project is underway.

Another sign that New Orleans is returning to normal can be seen on the Lakefront. Palm trees have been planted, shelters repaired, benches and picnic tables replaced and sunbathers are lying on the new grass in one of the first sections of the Lakefront to be completed.

WWL-TV

A spot near Marconi Boulevard was the perfect place for a post law school exam picnic. "It's awesome. Just got done with final exams, and want to take a day to relax. It's a nice sunny day, little windy, though. It's just nice to be out here," Max Koeck, a law student, said.

The Katrina storm surge heavily damaged the lakefront, eroding the soil and smashing the shelters.

"I remember coming back here just about a month or so after Katrina,” Kroeck said, “and it was just a wasteland, almost, and now we got grass here again, you know the place is clean. Obviously, you can see some people have been doing some hard work.”

Since November, work has been underway to fix Lakeshore Drive, replace damaged sidewalks and streetlights. The $5 million dollar price tag is being paid by FEMA and the Federal Highway Administration, and the toughest job has been replacing the tons of soil washed away by the storm surge. The contractor asked permission to work weekends.

It was 5.2 miles, and the entire length was eroded right behind the seawall, including the electrical, everything was washed away,” Louis Capo of the Orleans Levee District, said.

A second $2 million dollar project is funding repairs to three major shelters, and 15 smaller pavilions. Shelter One is nearly done, the rest should be finished by August, but the bathrooms and concession stands will remain locked, and the streetlights dark, because there is no power to the Lakefront. Before Katrina, the wires ran under the levees, and that is not allowed any more.

"The electrical will need to go across the levee, the top of the levee,” Louis Capo said, “and right now we're applying for a permit with the Corp to allow the electrical across the top of the levee."

The Orleans Levee District will supply portable bathrooms at the shelters, but until the streetlights work, the area will be closed at night.

"It is scheduled to wrap up the entire Lakeshore by January 2009, said Louis Capo.

The last project will be to repair the Mardi Gras Fountain, and the Orleans Levee Board is now working with FEMA to determine the scope of the project, how much it will cost and they're hoping that the federal government will pick up the tab.