« Not Your Grandfather's Streetcar | Main | Good Morning! »
October 24, 2004
The Rivergate
The Rivergate
Up until the late 1960s, the foot of Canal Street was a mishmash of light industrial buildings, wharves, streetcar and railroad tracks, and open space. Under the mayoral administration of Victor Schiro, plans were developed to clear several blocks just off of Canal and the river for a convention center. Carrying on the themes started by his predecessor, “Chep” Morrison, Schiro put a lot of effort into showing the world that New Orleans was good for business and conventions as well as being “the city that care forgot.”
The design of The Rivergate reflects its proximity to the Mississippi, with the wavy roof and sides. The building was considered quite the architectural gem at the time. In 1969, the Krewe of Bacchus was formed, and the krewe used The Rivergate to hold their post-parade supper dance. The facility was large enough that the floats were brought into the building, to the delight of the party-goers.
By the 1980s, the city’s reputation as a major convention destination had long been established. The combination of The Rivergate on one end of downtown and the Superdome on the other gave us a lot of clout in attracting the big meetings. Still, Da Dome has its quirks and complications (not the least of which is that its primary function is indeed as a sports stadium). There were a number of conventions that passed up New Orleans because The Rivergate was too small. This was one of the main motivations the city had for holding a World’s Fair in 1984. The main exhibition hall of the Fair was constructed to be a replacement convention facility. It’s become all that and more, as the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center is now the city’s premier convention hall.
With the construction of the Morial Convention Center, The Rivergate’s usage dropped off dramatically. When the state decided to legalize casino gambling, several plans for a casino for New Orleans included renovating The Rivergate and use it as a gambling hall. The plan submitted by Harrah’s and developer Christopher Hemmeter called for tearing down The Rivergate. That plan was accepted, and the building was torn down to make way for what now is Harrah’s Casino.
This photo is looking riverbound, showing The Rivergate and what was then called the International Trade Mart (now the World Trade Center). The streetcar tracks were ripped up from Canal Street (on the left) in 1964, and the Liberty Monument was in storage by this time. Spanish Plaza and the Riverwalk don’t exist yet; Spanish Plaza was constructed in 1974 and the Riverwalk was part of the 1984 World’s Fair. In the background, the SS President riverboat is barely visible at the top of the photo.
Posted by Edward J. Branley at October 24, 2004 08:25 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.nola-blogs.com/cgi-bin/mt/ruebourbon.cgi/72.
