CHALMETTE, La. -- In a nod to the parish's early settlers, St. Bernard residents celebrated the Islenos Fiesta, and with it, the reopening of the museum dedicated to that part of the area's history.
"Thanks to FEMA and thanks to parish government, which owns the facility, we've had a complete rehabilitation of the house," said St. Bernard historian William Hyland of The Islenos Museum.
The museum complex sustained heavy damage during Hurricane Katrina. Some buildings required major restoration; others had to be rebuilt from the ground up, at a cost of about $2.5 million, paid for by FEMA. It is one of several recovery projects going on right now in St. Bernard.
"When you look at it overall, I'd say we're probably about 65 percent, in terms of the construction work, and that's probably going to ramp up pretty good for the rest of the year," said St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro.
Among the projects going on in the next few weeks:
--- the opening of two new parish maintenance garages in Chalmette
--- groundbreaking on an open air seafood market in Arabi
--- the opening of a new park in Violet
--- and the addition two more fire stations in the parish
"Overall, it gives a lift to people to see the parish coming back," said Arabi resident Joan Nunez, who added that residents are still waiting for a hospital. "When we get the hospital built, that may be the last stepping stone to make people come back."
Parish leaders credit a closer working relationship with state and federal officials for helping move along the recovery projects.
"We made a commitment two years ago, that we would really try to break through all the log jams and our partnership with FEMA and GOSHEP [Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness] has really worked well," Taffaro said. "We certainly still have some obstacles to work through, but for the most part, this is the culmination of what we started two years ago-- putting projects on the street, getting construction underway and working through the federal system to make sure the money flows to pay for the work that we're doing."
The next recovery project to open will be Violet Park No. 2 on East. St. Bernard Highway. It's opening is scheduled for Thursday, March 25, at 9 a.m.
