Historic District of Covington to Feature New Art Market Location

Located between N. Columbia Street and N. Florida Street is a slight street in Covington, Louisiana’s downtown district named Hotel Alley.  Streets in the historic district of Covington, formerly known as Division of St. John, are laid out in unique patterns of squares within squares called ox lots. This peculiar design is how the downtown district got placement on the National register of Historic Places in 1981.  The main streets, laid out horizontally, are accessed by alleyways.  That is how this particular street – Hotel Alley – came to be named.  Now, the St. Tammany Art Association is

planning on completely “renovating the street,” and renaming it: Art Alley.

Art Alley, currently a strip of asphalt, will be getting a new look, complete with cafe-style lighting overhead, connecting between the Art Association’s Art House and the H.J. Smith & Sons General Store and Museum; a lit-entry archway, a mural, and removable bollards to close off the street for special events. The special event, which will benefit from this street renovation is the Covington Art Market.  This year’s Covington Art Market will be held on October 7, 2017, from 9am – 1pm at the new Art Alley location.  Formerly located at the Covington Trailhead, the October Art Market will feature artists: Susan Carver, Wess Foreman, Julie Katich, Richard Lo Piccolo, Linda McNeely, Jeffrey Minzey, Ruth Ostarly, Allison Radtke, Jason Ronquillo, Kristy Ruffino, Robert Wagner and Chuck Wright.

“Throughout the United States, cities of all sizes are embracing what’s known as ‘Creative Placemaking,’ the art of transforming ordinary spaces into extraordinary places that promote a sense of community, spark commerce and enhance areas by creating cultural hubs of activity,” said Kim Bergeron, STAA’s executive director.

The October Covington Art Market is also doing something a little different.  They are partnering with American Art Therapy Association and the South Texas Art Therapy Association to provide hurricane relief efforts to children affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.  The visitors of the Art Market can contribute to an art supply drive which will then be donated to those children in need. The effort is being spearheaded by Jaclyn Warren MS, ATR-BC, a STAA Artist Advisory Board member and president of the Louisiana Art Therapy Association. Colored pencils, crayons, cay-pas, unruled journals and sketchpads, and coloring books are just some of the supplies that can be donated.

“We hope the community sees the possibilities that Art Alley offers and embraces our efforts to bring that vision to reality,” Bergeron said. “And, of course, a visit to the art market is an opportunity to discover new talents and to celebrate our community’s artists.”

For more information, call 985.892.8650 or visit www.sttammanyartassociation.org.

Click Here for the Source of the Information.

Walk-On’s Opens in New River Chase Commercial Development

The new community of River Club is located behind the new River Chase commercial development right down the Brewster Road extension near Sam’s club.  An enormous apartment complex is being built out in view of Interstate 12 one exit up from Highway 21 at the Pinnacle Parkway exit. Ron Lee Homes is selling a new, totally custom, unique home for sale in River club featuring 5,627 total square feet with 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, and a game room.  This southern farmhouse-style home is priced at $925,000 has 4,086 living square feet, complete with a 3-car garage, spacious outdoor living and entertainment areas with outdoor kitchen, and a durable metal roof.

In addition to the convenient location of being approximately 1 – 2 miles of shopping at the Pinnacle Nord du Lac shopping complex off of Highway 21, Walk-On’s, a sports bar and restaurant with a

rooftop bar is finishing construction in the River Chase commercial district.  The sports bar will be open Monday, September 25th at 11am at its location at 69796 Stirling Blvd.  This is the 12th location of Walk-On’s in Louisiana and the first and only one to have a rooftop bar.

Saints quarterback Drew Brees is co-owner of this location with general manager Brandon Mier. He said everything patrons have come to love and expect from Walk-On’s — upscale bar food with a Louisiana twist, an excellent beer selection and a lively, family friendly atmosphere — can be found at the Covington location.

To maintain local loyalty and flair, Walk-On’s has an entire back wall mural with Louisiana legends, and it is using Duece McAlister’s waste management company, Waste Pro, as well as beer supplied by Zach Strief’s brewery, Port Orleans brewery.

“Walk-On’s is really a community driven restaurant,” Mier said. “I can’t tell you how proud and excited I am to introduce Walk-On’s to our city.”


Click Here for the Source of the Information.

Residents of St. Tammany Parish to Miss Holiday of Lights

In the Greater New Orleans area, holiday celebrations abound and are also a very popular tourist attraction.  However, here locally in St. Tammany Parish, there are a few events that always draw a huge crowd and are anticipated by the residents of St. Tammany Parish every holiday season.
For those who call St. Tammany Parish home, they have always looked forward to the Holiday of

Lights celebration at the Tammany Trace Trailhead on Koop Drive in the city of Mandeville.  Unfortunately, this will not be the case come holiday season this year.  Pat Brister, President of St. Tammany Parish government, informed residents that the two-weekend holiday celebration will be cancelled due to the lack of funds.

This free annual event was enjoyed by residents for 17 years and featured entertainment by local schools, musical and theater performances, caroling, carnival rides, pictures with Santa and a tour of the holiday lights display in the Koop Drive campus. The St. Tammany Parish government was one of two sponsors which funded

the annual event that reportedly cost the parish $75,000 each season.

While this sad news might come as a surprise to the community, parish officials anticipated it as a cut to the St. Tammany Parish operating budget for 2018 which forecasts an $18 million-dollar revenue shortfall. The parish feels there is no way around the budget cut which stems from the failed attempt to renew sales taxes linked to the jail and courthouse.
Click Here and Here for the Sources of Information.

Increase in Private Residential Construction Spending

Private residential construction spending is spending on construction by private parties and homeowners.  Data about this construction spending is collected from retail and wholesale outlets nationally. It seems that homeowners and small builders have a positive outlook on the economy and are spening money on new home construction on their own land or lot, as well as additions and remodeling to existing homes that they own.  Many people buy land and hold it for awhile before they decide to build a new home.  By owning land, there is an opportunity for new home builders to be able to more easily qualify for a construction loan by utilizing the equity in the land.

In addition to new home construction, homeowners are improving their homes as well, by contracting popular remodeling projects, such as kitchen, master bath, and outdoor area remodels.  Additions of pool houses, mother-in-law suites, and over-the-garage apartments are also popular construction projects for existing homeowners, which contribute money to the total amount of private construction spending during the month of July.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) did an analysis of the Census Construction Spending, and the data showed an increase of private residential construction spending of .8% in July over June, 2017, to an amount of $523.1 billion.  This increase was also an 11.6% increase year-over-year compared to 2016, and it was the third consecutive monthly increase for private construction spending after it went down slightly in April, 2017.

The breakdown in construction spending between single-family home construction and home improvement of existing homes shows that new home construction went up by .8% compared to June to reach $264.1 billion, and $192.4 billion was spent on home remodeling or renovation, which was a 1.41% increase month-over-month.  Also remodeling / renovation spending was up a total of 16.5% year-over-year compared to July, 2016.

Click Here for the Source of the Information.