City to close Slidell Auditorium in 2010

Plans for new construction to open is tentative for 2011, Morris says; company yet to be named

By Erik Sanzenbach
St. Tammany News
Published on Wednesday, May 13, 2009 12:24 AM CDT

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Mayor Ben Morris has issued a tentative time line for the demolition and rebuilding of the Slidell Municipal Auditorium almost a year ahead of time.

Morris said the as yet-unnamed construction company would begin to demolish the auditorium March 1, 2010.

Construction on the new building is slated for mid-April 2010, and if all goes as planned, the new auditorium should open to the public by January 2011.

Slidell and the Federal Emergency Management Agency came to an agreement a month ago on what to do with the auditorium that was heavily-damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. At first, FEMA only wanted to renovate the facility, but Morris said the heavy damage meant the whole building had to be replaced. FEMA initially agreed but only if the city would build a 6-foot floodwall around the auditorium. Morris said that was not feasible, and FEMA finally agreed to pay for the demolition and rebuilding without the floodwall. The auditorium is the site of many Mardi Gras balls and events. Morris said the proposed demolition and construction timeline will minimize the time that organizations might have to look elsewhere for their gatherings.

“The timeline should also allow our local Mardi Gras krewes to be able to hold their parties and balls for 2010,” Morris said in a statement released Monday.

The city has already sent out bids for the demolition and construction. At the Slidell City Council meeting Tuesday night, Morris announced the firm of Sizeler Thompson Brown Architects were named to draw up the plans and engineering specifications for the new auditorium.

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