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Downtown Shreveport gets $250K from BP fund

The Shreveport Downtown Development Authority will receive $250,000 from the BP fund to promote Gulf Coast tourism and the seafood industries impacted by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. Out of the five states eligible to apply for grants, 43 organizations in Louisiana received funding in the first round of the program.

Liz Swaine, executive director of the Shreveport Downtown Development Authority, said when coastal Louisiana tourism is compromised it has a ripple effect across the state.

“When water was high in New Orleans, people believed that water was high in Shreveport,” Swaine said. “When Gulf shrimp and fish were affected in the BP oil spill, people stopped eating them in North Louisiana.”

Swaine’s agency was the only grant recipient in North Louisiana. She said the funds will be used to market the downtown and promote its offerings to a wider audience, something her budget doesn’t allow for now.

"This gives us such a wonderful opportunity to market our beautiful buildings, Shreveport Common, the riverfront, and the Red River District to people who may not have Shreveport and our downtown area on their radar right now,” Swaine said.

Swaine said she is waiting to hear from the court-appointed oil-spill claims administrator on the terms of the contract and the parameters of the grant.

A total of 110 nonprofit groups and government entities were selected from more than 350 applications. In Louisiana the grant recipients include:

Lt. Governor Office/Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism

Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival

Southeast Louisiana GUMBO Partnership

River Parishes CVB

River Parishes Tourist Commission

Tangipahoa Parish Tourist Commission

West Baton Rouge CVB

Visit Baton Rouge

Oak Alley Foundation

Vernon Parish Tourism Commission

St. Martin Parish Tourist Commission

Allen Parish Tourist Commission

New Orleans Marketing Corporation

Bayou Classic

Tangipahoa Parish African American Museum

Vermilion Parish Tourist Commission

Audubon Nature Institute

St. John the Baptist Parish government

New Orleans City Park

New Orleans Museum of Art

St. Tammany Parish Tourist Commission

City of Opelousas Tourism Office

Lafourche Parish government

New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau

Shreveport Downtown Development District

Gulf Coast Oyster Industry Council

Jefferson Parish CVB

Bayou Country Children's Museum

Lafayette Convention and Visitors Bureau

Livingston Parish Tourist Commission

Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival

Iberia Parish CVB

Terrebonne Consolidated Government

Terrebonne Library 2012 Writers Conference

Louisiana Marathon

National World War II Museum

Fore Kids Foundation

New Orleans Oyster Festival

Town of Grand Isle

St. Bernard Parish Tourist Commission

Town of Lafitte

Plaquemines Parish

Shadows on the Teche