| St. Thomas Development | |
| River Garden | |
| New Orleans Neighborhood | |
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St. Thomas Projects, early 1940s
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | Louisiana |
| City | New Orleans |
| Planning District | District 2, Central City/Garden District |
| Elevation | 7 ft (2.1 m) |
| Coordinates | |
| Area | 0.27 sq mi (0.7 km2) |
| - land | 0.23 sq mi (1 km2) |
| - water | 0.04 sq mi (0 km2), 14.81% |
| Population | 1,091 (2010) |
| Density | 4,041 / sq mi (1,560 / km2) |
| Timezone | CST (UTC-6) |
| - summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| Area code | 504 |
St. Thomas Development is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans and a former Housing Projects of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Central City/Garden District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Constance, St. Mary, Magazine and Felicity Streets to the north, the Mississippi River to the south and 1st, St. Thomas, and Chippewa Streets and Jackson Avenue to the west.
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St. Thomas Development is located at [1] and has an elevation of 7 feet (2.1 m)[2]. According to the United States Census Bureau, the district has a total area of 0.27 square miles (0.7 km2). 0.23 square miles (0.6 km2) of which is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km2) (14.81%) of which is water.
The City Planning Commission defines the boundaries of St. Thomas Development as these streets: Constance Street, St. Mary Street, Magazine Street, Felicity Street, the Mississippi River, 1st Street, St. Thomas Street, Chippewa Street and Jackson Avenue.[3]
As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 2,957 people, 834 households, and 608 families residing in the neighborhood. The population density was 12,857 /mi² (4,928 /km²).
The St. Thomas Housing Project was one of the housing projects of New Orleans. It was bordered by St. Thomas Street to the south, a service alley between Constance and Laurel Streets to the north, Felicity Street to the east and Josephine Street to the west. It was built in 1941, and originally consisted of 120 buildings covering almost ten full city blocks. Under segregated housing laws in place until the 1960s it was occupied by white tenants.
St. Thomas became one of the country's most dangerous developments by the late 1980s. In 1996, the Housing Authority of New Orleans received a HUD Hope VI grant to demolish and rebuild the area. This grant included the costs to relocate the nearly 3,000 residents to other properties. By the end of 2001 all of the buildings except a few had been demolished to create a mixed income neighborhood named "River Garden." A section of Chippewa Street was re-aligned in the process. Also, a new Wal-Mart superstore was constructed on long-vacant property one block south of the former project site. Construction the rental property was completed in early 2009 with a final phase of construction focusing on condominiums beginning that same year.
Sister Helen Prejean, a Roman Catholic nun, lived in St. Thomas Housing Project in the 1980s. While living there, she became pen pals with convicted killer Patrick Sonnier. Her experiences with Sonnier and other inmates on death row, recorded in her book Dead Man Walking, served as the basis for the feature film and opera. Scenes in the movie version were filmed on location at St. Thomas; Prejean was portrayed by Susan Sarandon.
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