11:10 AM CDT on Thursday, September 15, 2005

Brett Martel / Associated Press

Mayor Ray Nagin announced Thursday that large parts of the city will reopen early next week, and the French Quarter the week after that. "The city of New Orleans will start to breathe again," he said.

The announcement came amid progress in restoring power and water service and the day after the release of government tests showing that the floodwaters still contain dangerous bacteria and industrials chemicals, but that the air is safe to breathe.

The first section to reopen to residents will be Algiers, across the Mississippi River from the French Quarter, on Monday, the mayor said. The city's Uptown section, which includes Tulane University and the Garden District, will be reopened in stages next Wednesday and next Friday, he said. The French Quarter will follow on Monday, Sept. 26.

"The French Quarter is high and dry, and we feel as though it has good electricity capabilities," the mayor said, "but since it's so historic, we want to double- and triple-check before we fire up all electricity in there to make sure that because every building is so close that if a fire breaks out, we won't lose a significant amount of what we cherish in this city."

The reopened areas of the city represent 182,000 residents out of a city of nearly half a million.

"We will have life. We will have commerce. We will have people getting into their normal mode of operations, and the rhythm that makes this city so unique," the mayor said.

He added: "It's a good day in New Orleans. The sun is shining .... We're going to bring this city back."

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)