Meraux Foundation Dedicates Land as Living History Commemorative Park

The Meraux Foundation announced today that it has entered into a charitable lease with the Louisiana Living History Foundation, which will pay $1 per year for a 25 acre stretch of land near the Chalmette National Battlefield. The land, unveiled as the Meraux Foundation Living History Commemorative Park, will host the yearly re-enactments of the Battle of New Orleans and serve as a multi-purpose civic resource for the people of St. Bernard Parish.

“St. Bernard has a rich history, and we want to share it with the world,” said Rita Gue, president of the Meraux Foundation. “In addition to honoring history, we see this as an economic development engine. The battlegrounds will compliment our other tourism assets, create jobs, and attract tourist dollars to the Parish.”

Many improvements to the land, planned by LLH’s historians, will transport visitors back in time to January 1815.

The park will serve as a permanent site for the re-enactment of the Battle of New Orleans.

“We are so grateful to the Meraux Foundation for donating this land to honor and preserve the history of St. Bernard and the United States,” said LLH President Tim Pickles. “We worked with the Meraux Foundation to design a space that celebrates the past and serves the public for a variety of other uses connected with the history of the region, and its population, charity, historical, educational and cultural events will be our main focus.”

The park will feature an historically accurate, scaled reconstruction of the original Battlefield from the British lines to the American Lines. More than 1,000 historians and re-enactors are expected to come to Chalmette for next year’s event from as far as Canada, Great Britain, and across North America.

The battlegrounds will host visitors throughout the year, spreading the story of the Battle of New Orleans and its key role in the history of the United States.

The Meraux Foundation Living History Commemorative Park is yet another major accomplishment for St. Bernard Parish. The new park will enrich our tourism offerings. And when tourists visit St. Bernard, the dollars they bring flow throughout the community. Visitors to the park will also enjoy our great restaurants, shop in our local stores, and visit our other historic attractions.

The Meraux Foundation Living History Commemorative Park is located near the Woodlands Subdivision at the intersection of the Guerenger Canal and Particia Street in St. Bernard Parish, La.