Art
New Orleans ranks as one of the nation's top arts destinations.
New developments near Lee Circle are creating an art and museum district that complements
nearby galleries in the Warehouse District and on Magazine
Street.
They include the Ogden Museum of
Southern Art, scheduled for completion in 2002, the National D-Day Museum,
which opened to sensational national and international reviews, the Ashe
Multicultural Center, a centerpiece in the revitalization of Central City, and Louisiana
ArtWorks. ArtWorks will be an incubator for small arts businesses that will
provide the infrastructure, public exposure and marketing strategies for artists to make
the successful transition to entrepreneur. ArtWorks is presently under construction and
will generate 155 permanent jobs with an annual economic impact of $74 million and each
year will provide over $6 million in local and state tax revenue.
Entertainment
In addition to all of its wonderful attributes, New Orleans has
become known around the world as a special events and entertainment city. The 141-acre Jazzland
Amusement Park, a centerpiece of New Orleans East economic revitalization efforts
has enhanced New Orleans reputation as a family-oriented city. Moreover, New Orleans is
the site for major international gatherings including several Summit of the
Americas meetings as well as the Inter-American Development Bank
Annual Meeting.
Sports entertainment has emerged as both an
entertainment option and an economic development tool for New Orleans, the State of
Louisiana and the Southeast Region. The completion of the Downtown Sports Arena
has increased the city's capacity to host sporting events. In early 2002, the National
Basketball Association returned to the Crescent City. An unprecedented coalition
of business leaders and local, state, and regional elected officials worked to bring the
NBA's Charlotte Hornets to the Downtown Sports Arena.
The city and the state showed their support for
the National Football League when a similar broad coalition of elected
and business leaders worked cooperatively to ensure that the New Orleans Saints
would remain in New Orleans and continue playing its games in the Louisiana Superdome.
In 1997, New Orleans' first professional hockey
team, the Brass, began playing in the renovated and historic Morris
F. X. Jeff Municipal Auditorium. The team later moved to the new $100 million
Downtown Sports Arena. The Brass, which competes in the East Coast Hockey League,
has broadened the scope of traditional entertainment in the city.
These impressive business-government coalitions
have shown that we are innovative and focused on bringing sports entertainment to New
Orleans, Louisiana and the region. 
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