Monument sights in New Orleans
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A
French Quarter
There's no denying the Quarter's appeal. It's walkable, picturesque, always busy, and filled with an extraordinary range of great restaurants, bars, nightclubs, courtyard cafés, art galleries, rummage shops and quirky museums. A visitor can walk these blocks time and time again and on each occasion notice something new.
Locals call it Vieux Carré, (Old Quarter) but the French Quarter is much more than an historic district. It is the cultural and geographic focal point of New Orleans. Though the Quarter is very touristy, the locals have not completely surrendered it to out-of-town visitors. Contrary to the neighborhood's ribald Bourbon St image, you are never more than t…
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B
Lee Circle
Called Place du Tivoli until it was renamed to honor Confederate General Robert E Lee after the Civil War, Lee Circle is a tragic example of an urban junction planned horribly wrong. The presence of a nearby elevated freeway and two gas stations mars what should be a pleasant roundabout. Oh well; the Robert E Lee monument at its center, dedicated in 1884, is attractive, and still refuses to turn its back on the North. Also on Lee Circle, K&B Plaza is a modish office tower dating to 1963 with an indoor-outdoor sculpture gallery. The outdoor sculptures, featuring Isamu Noguchi’s The Mississippi, can be viewed anytime.
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C
Scrap House
Artist Sally Heller designed this sculpture, built entirely out of found and recycled material, and dedicated it to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. A ruined shack that resembles Dorothy’s house blown off-track sits in a tree constructed from pieces of oil drums. Inside, a light shines for those seeking to return home. It’s a powerful piece of work that sits in an appropriate setting – across from the Convention Center, where so many refugees were displaced in the aftermath of the Storm.
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D
Louis Armstrong Park
The entrance to this massive park has got to be one of the greatest gateways in the USA; a picturesque arch that ought rightfully be the final set piece in some period drama about Jazz Age New Orleans. We wonder how Satchmo would feel about the park dedicated in his name. Parts of it, particularly the walkways over little rivers and streams, are gorgeous, and the original Congo Sq is here. On the other hand the park is surrounded by imposing, unfriendly walls; parts of it remain undeveloped and rough looking, and overall this isn’t a good place to walk around at night. Too bad – a public space with a jazzy name on this particular spot really ought to be a cultural focal p…
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