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