Tourism Commission awards funds for two projects

The Tammany Trace Foundation and the city of Covington were the big winners Wednesday after the St. Tammany Tourist Commission heard from three applicants hoping to share $56,663 from the commission’s Special Reserve Fund. Every year the commission sets aside money in the Special Reserve Fund, which is used to help pay for the bricks and mortar parts of projects that promote St. Tammany Parish tourism and attract both out-of-state and out-of-parish tourists. The recipients of the funds must finish the projects in a timely manner.

This year there were three applicants.

The Tammany Trace Foundation applied for $30,000 to help build a 3,800-square-foot open-air pavilion next to the Trace on Koop Drive just north of Mandeville. When completed, the $80,000 pavilion will have a portable stage, concession stands and bathrooms. The city of Covington applied for $39,000 to finish the first phase the Cultural and Heritage Education Film and Interactive Historical Museum at the Covington Trailhead on New Hampshire Street. The museum building is finished, and the money would be used to produce a seven-minute film and to buy the projector and speakers to show the film. The second phase of the museum would be the construction of an interactive kiosk with display panels that would show visitors various parts of Covington and how to get there. In all, the entire project will cost $80,000.

Finally, the city of Slidell asked for $28,000 to help fund a $43,000 project to build dressing rooms and bathrooms behind the open-air stage in Heritage Park. Jennifer Drennan of the Slidell Department of Parks and Recreation said the dressing rooms are needed because the park stages many cultural events, such as concerts and plays, and the musicians and actors need a place to change. Drennan said having the dressing rooms would allow Slidell to book more events that would boost tourism for the city.

After hearing from the applicants, the board then rated the importance of the projects on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most important. The Tammany Trace Pavilion got the highest rating with 9.84 points, the Covington project came in second with 7 points, and Slidell’s project received 4.84 points.

At first, the board was going to award $29,000 to the Trace project, $22,000 to the Covington museum and $5,000 for the Slidell project. However, a motion was made to reduce Slidell’s request to zero and split the $5,000 between the Trace and Covington so the Trace would get $30,000, and Covington would receive $26,000 for its museum. The motion passed unanimously.

Board member, Kristin McLaren explained the $5,000 for Slidell was too little for its $49,000 project, and the board believed Slidell would have a hard time raising the other $44,000.

Another motion that passed unanimously stipulated that if the Covington City Council could not raise the other $58,000 to finish its project, the commission’s funding would be returned to the Special Reserve Fund and used in the next fiscal year. Tammany Trace Foundation President Bruce Wainer said construction on the pavilion will start on Jan. 2, 2009, and should be completed sometime in April. Wainer and Tammany Trace Foundation Executive Director Lisa Maddox said once the pavilion is finished, it will be used for concerts, exhibits, dances, movies and holiday celebrations. Maddox said the Trace is attracting more and more tourists every year, and a large covered area on the trace is needed to handle the tourists and parish residents who use the Trace.

“We need to accommodate more people, especially for the Holiday of Lights, which draws bigger crowds every year,” Maddox said.

Wainer said the Trace and parish government have formed a partnership in which the parish will provide the infrastructure of sewer and water connections, and the Trace will focus on construction of the pavilion.