Louis Armstrong Park, Urban park in Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, United States.
Louis Armstrong Park is a 32-acre (130,000 m²) park in the Tremé neighborhood, just across Rampart Street from the French Quarter. It was designed by New Orleans architect Robin Riley and named after jazz musician Louis Armstrong. Within its footprint stand the New Orleans Municipal Auditorium, the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts, buildings of the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, and Congo Square in front of the auditorium.
In the 1960s an urban renewal project leveled a large part of Tremé next to Congo Square. After a decade of debate, the city created the park on that land; it was designed by New Orleans architect Robin Riley and named for Louis Armstrong. Congo Square, once called Beauregard Square, lies in front of the Municipal Auditorium.
Congo Square within this space was where enslaved and free Black people gathered on Sundays to play music and dance together. This legacy remains visible today through the performances and gatherings that continue throughout the year.
The park sits directly across Rampart Street from the French Quarter, in Tremé. A large fence separates it from the surrounding blocks, and residents have asked for its removal; the concrete parking lots at the rear, along N. Villere Street, are often linked to subsidence and flooding there. Congo Square lies just in front of the Municipal Auditorium.
The park holds a 12-foot statue of Louis Armstrong by Elizabeth Catlett, along with a bust of Sidney Bechet and a depiction of Buddy Bolden. These three monuments to jazz figures stand within the grounds.
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