She’s taken on big Louisiana issues before. Can Sandra Herman revive Canal Street?
December 8, 2024
Sandra Herman loves to solve problems.
As a young state employee in the 1970s, she designed the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism and helped streamline state government. A couple decades later, she led a multimillion-dollar project that preserved and enhanced the Atchafalaya Basin, which was threatened by mud and silt from Mississippi River diversions.
Now, Herman, deep into her retirement, has identified a new challenge to tackle: reviving the downtown section of Canal Street, a one-mile stretch of hotels, restaurants and iconic retailers, but also empty storefronts, broken sidewalks and other signs of stagnation.
“When I moved from Baton Rouge to New Orleans in 2008, I fell in love with the city and I learned that Canal Street is valuable to so many people,” Herman said during an interview last week at Cafe Beignet in the 600 block of Canal. “I think I can make a real difference.”
Six months ago, Herman launched Celebrate Canal, a citizen-led nonprofit coalition that wants to highlight what’s working on the street and find solutions to what isn’t.
It’s an idealistic quest — quixotic, some might say — to tackle one of the city’s long-running economic development issues. City leaders know Canal Street needs changes. In September, the City Council ordered the City Planning Commission to study ways to spur a revival after earlier attempts came up short.