Village of Grosse Tete making great progress on construction of new park

The Village of Grosse Tete Mayor Michael Chauffe last week said the ribbon-cutting for the new Grosse Tete Veterans Memorial Park andWalking Trail should be scheduled to happen before mid-July.

The groundbreaking was in February, construction began just a couple of months later and the project should be complete by the end of June, according to Jim Garrett of Pointe Coupee Contractors. Once that’s finished, the only thing that will be left to do is the landscaping.

“I really think people are going to use it,” Chauffe said. “There’s already been a lot of talk about town and some people are in disbelief that something like this could be in Grosse Tete.”

The sidewalk walking trail will be finished this week and each lap around the path will be one quarter of a mile.

The project will include a Veterans Memorial Wall when it’s completed and a change order has been submitted and approved by the Board of Alderman to raise it from its present height of about three feet along the sides and four feet at its peak.

Bricks dedicated to local veterans will be sold by the village to complete the memorial, Chauffe said. Forms are available at Town Hall.

He continued by saying the walking trail would begin and end at the pavilion now almost finished and where the memorial will be.

The four and a half acre tract of land where the park is located was purchased from a well known family in Grosse Tete, specifically the heirs of the late A.J. “Bull” Angelloz, a man fondly remembered by the area’s residents.

Village officials decided the land would make the land – which had laid dormant for a long time – would make a great location for the park and walking trail.

The park will include a canoe and kayak launch – no motorized watercraft will be allowed and a huge deck overlooking Bayou Grosse Tete is already complete. By the time this article is published, two other covered decks will be completed.

Funding for the $250,000 park is being provided by funds from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, Louisiana Parks and Recreation, the Iberville Parks and Recreation Department and the village will provide matching funds of $37,000, Chauffe said.

The mayor said Janet Marionneaux was responsible for writing the grant applications for the funding. “She worked tirelessly to get these funds and we’re deeply appreciative of it.”

The ribbon-cutting attracted a multitude of officials, including state Sen. Rick Ward, state Rep. Chad Brown, District Attorney Ricky Ward, Iberville Parish Clerk of Court Amy Patin, Iberville’s Assessor Randy Sexton, representatives from a number of parks and recreation organizations, some of which provided some of the funding for the park, Jeanie David, a member of the village’s Board of Aldermen and Kitty Lou Angelloz, Bull’s widow.

“We have a long list of people who have been a big influence in making this come to be,” Chauffe said.