DDA scores $250,000 grant to help tell Shreveport's story
By: Nancy Cook
Updated: November 13, 2012
The Shreveport Downtown Development Authority (DDA) has been notified of the award of a $250,000 marketing grant from the Deepwater Horizon Claims Administrator and the Gulf Tourism Promotional Fund.
In the grant application, the DDA made a strong case for downtown Shreveport, explaining that problems in the coastal areas of Louisiana have ac hilling affect on other parts of the state as well as along the coast.
"Our area saw this in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and after the BP oil spill," said Liz Swaine, executive director of the DDA.
"People from outside Louisiana tend to believe that everyone in the state lives on the coast and that all of our areas are equally affected after natural or man-made disasters. We know that is not the case, but it is almost impossible to get that word out. We lost business and tourism after the hurricanes, and believe the same happened in the aftermath of the oil spill," Swaine said.
The grant will allow the DDA to do is market downtown Shreveport to a wide audience outside the state.
"We intend to promote all the special things about our historic downtown," said Terry Moore, board president of the DDA. "Our history, buildings, architecture, our restaurants, clubs, music, attractions, casinos and events... and we'll show how Louisiana seafood plays a role in the culture of the northern part of the state."
Additional details of the grant will be forthcoming, as the DDA team is ready to get to work on sharing downtown's message to a larger audience.
"I cannot tell you how thrilled we are and how thankful we are to the Deepwater Horizon Economic Claims Administration, BP and the Plaintiffs Steering Committee," Swaine said. "This is truly a case in which something horribly bad is being turned into good."
More than 350 applications to the claims fund were made and of those, 110 requests in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida were approved