Lakeshore Property Owners Association

Lakeshore Property Owners Association

History

An amendment to the 1921 Constitution was made by Act 292 of 1928: It empowered the Orleans Levee Board "to perform certain works of reclamation, construction, and improvement" and authorized the Board to sell, lease, or dispose of land not dedicated to public use."

The New Orleans Lakefront Project reclaimed 2,000 acres of land from the lake, extending for a distance of 5.5 miles. In 1926, the Orleans Levee Board issued $4 million in bonds which made possible the pumping of the first 36 million cubic yards of hydraulic fill, creating new land from marshes and swamps. Completed in 1930, the land fill encompassed the present area between Robert E. Lee Boulevard and the lake from the New Basin Canal to the Industrial Canal.

In 1930, a permanent lakefront levee was begun with the construction of 5-1/2 miles of seawall. A concrete, stepped seawall was adopted as the best means of providing the greatest flood protection while deterring the increasing erosion of the shoreline. The 8-foot high seawall took 2-1/2 years to complete at a cost of $2,640,000. It became the city's frontline protection on Lake Pontchartrain.

In 1931, the Orleans Levee Board began construction of Lakefront Airport on 300 acres of reclaimed lake bottom, which was protected by a vertical-type seawall.

Four subdivisions were planned and developed during the following time frames:

Lake Vista (West)-1939
Lake Vista (East)-1946
Lakeshore (West)-1951
Lakeshore (East)-1955
Lake Terrace-1953
Lake Oaks-1960