Today is a big day for Slidell in particular and St. Tammany Parish in general. Slidell leaders along with developers, Robert Levis and Bayer Properties cut the ribbon on what will be one of the biggest projects to ever come to the parish. The Summit Fremaux development will transform 400 acres of land bordering Interstate 10 between Fremaux Drive and Old Spanish Trail into a $1 billion development that will include a high-end retail center, office and medical complexes, single-family housing, condominiums, and the University of New Orleans Tech Park.

Not only will the project bring many construction jobs to the city, but also permanent jobs in the retail, hotel, medical and engineering fields. But it isn’t just the jobs that Summit Fremaux will create that will transform Slidell. The UNO Tech Park hopes to lure high-tech companies into the area that will boost the regions cutting-edge research. The tech park will be a wonderful companion to the research already happening at the Stennis Space Center and the NASA facility at Michoud.

The retail center, which will boast a Barnes and Noble bookstore, and department store giants, Macy’s and Belk’s will lure customers from all over the parish, from the south shore and from neighboring Mississippi. This will boost the coffers of Slidell and St. Tammany Parish. The new I-10 interchange at Fremaux Drive, set to open in August, will not only be one of two ways to get into the new complex, but it will help to ease traffic along the busy I-10 corridor. Plans for the development call for a service road and a main street through the middle of the retail center that will also ease traffic woes. The new interchange will also change Fremaux into a major gateway to Slidell, leading tourists straight into the city’s Olde Towne. That means more business, mores tax revenue and more growth for Slidell.

The project has been on the planning table for several years now. It is appropriate that the plans will finally become reality after Hurricane Katrina. Slidell was the hardest-hit city in the parish, and Summit Fremaux is a symbol of how the town has come back from the destruction of the storm. Despite the hardships of rebuilding, Slidell and St. Tammany Parish have climbed a very tough mountain to reach this summit. Let’s hope that Summit Fremaux is a sign of a bright and prosperous future for the parish.