When driving around in the city you may have noticed that many construction work whether downtown near the courthouse or at Lafitte Park, located on South John Hardy Drive. 

ABBEVILLE, La. (KLFY) -- When driving around in the city you may have noticed that many construction work whether downtown near the courthouse or at Lafitte Park, located on South John Hardy Drive. 

Mayor of Abbeville Roslyn White explained that the piece of the park’s property was initially purchased in 2008 to have a retention pond to help with flooding on the south side of Abbeville and over the years. There has also been momentum by the previous mayor and one of the councilmen to make it into a fishing pond and more used as an outdoor park area. The city was awarded the Louisiana Love Outdoor Grant for $400,000 to build a handicap-accessible fishing pier. The mayor said the city's match to that is $88,600. 

“We’re on the tail end of that construction now. The pier has been completed and there are still some checklist items that need to be fixed. There are some drainage issues we're dealing with and then we did some bank work sloping the bank to make it safer for people to safely fish from the bank, as well as for us to maintain the pond so that we can get down there and mow better,” White said. “So we're waiting on the grass to seed and as soon as all of that is done, we will be ready to reopen for the public. Our goal would be to be reopened by the time the kids get out of school this summer. It's just going to depend on how the rest of the project is fleshed out.” 

Furthermore, other efforts are being made to make the city safer for pedestrians. Projects to turn state highways downtown into local streets offer the opportunity for a parklet to be added. Councilman Brady Broussard, Jr. of District C said the parklet could bring economic benefits the the city.

“This is to increase pedestrian traffic, increase shopping activity, economic recovery, if you will. This is a way for a business to bring their customers outside for dining, for refreshments, for relaxing, for reading,” said Broussard. “We are going to move this around throughout the downtown for the businesses that want it. We want their customers to come and visit that store wherever it goes.” 

Broussard said the parklet is the first kind to the city and Vermilion Parish. With some unique features as being movable, it is also equipped with solar lights. 

“We would encourage the businesses that want this to build their own. We'll let them try this one, but this will not stay permanently in front of any business. This is to try it out to see if that can expand their business activity,” Broussard explained. “This is just one part of a larger master plan. We've already put in much more handicapped accessibility. All citizens matter to us in Abbeville. We want our handicapped citizens to be enjoying this downtown. We are slowing down traffic. We are increasing pedestrian safety.” 

White credited the importance of collaborating with not just local community partners, and local government, but regional and state partners when requesting for grants. 

“I've taken a lot of time in trying to build that network of connectivity and I think we've done a good job of that. It helps us be competitive in a grant market, but also it helps us understand because there's nothing that happens to me in Abbeville that doesn't affect everybody in Vermilion Parish, and there's nothing that happens to Erath or Delcambre or Maurice or even Lafayette [that doesn’t] affects us,” said White. 

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