The designs behind the Crescent Park symbolize the transformation of New Orleans without scrubbing away visual remnants of the city’s history of heavy commercial port use.
The Mandeville Shed and Piety Wharf, linked together by a Linear Park and Piety Gardens, offer a balanced mix of passive river-watching with opportunities for active recreation and community interaction.
Working off the natural boundaries created by previously used railroad tracks, the Linear Park and Piety Gardens connect the Mandeville Shed to the Piety Wharf with pedestrian paths, dog runs, playgrounds and open space. Native vegetation and boxcar hedges surround and enhance this vibrant community space.
The Piety Wharf is conceived to be a pavilion for quiet contemplation and reflection over the Mississippi River, counterbalancing the openness and extrovert nature of the nearby park. If the park is about the body, Piety Wharf is about the mind and a more private experience.
This sanctuary will be open to the public, intended for private reflection and ideal for events of all faiths like weddings and sunrise services.
The Mandeville Crossing, a pedestrian ramp beginning at N. Peters St. and Elysian Fields, floats over the protective floodwall and train tracks — providing a literal, visual connection to the Mississippi River — and plunges into the roof of the Mandeville Shed, a raw event space which reflects the area’s original commercial character.
The crossing in tandem with the shed simultaneously create a direct connection to the park and to the wharf structure, establishing a front porch for unmatched views of the city and the Mississippi River.
