Musicians' Village to get $1.5 million

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Friday, July 14, 2006


Musicians' Village to get $1.5 million


Musicians’ Village, the nascent housing project in the Upper Ninth Ward, and other hurricane recovery projects planned by the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity will receive $1.5 million in support from a group of corporations coordinated with the Southern Governors’ Association, which is meeting in New Orleans this weekend.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco, this year’s chairwoman of the association, made the announcement Friday afternoon. Blanco and several other governors attending the meeting will participate in construction at Musicians’ Village Saturday.

Underwriters include 84 Lumber, Entergy, LP Building Products, American Electric Power, Chevron, Freddie Mac, ExxonMobil, Shell Oil Co. and Symantec.

The money will assist Habitat projects including the village, which was conceived by New Orleans-native jazz musicians Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr. in partnership with Habitat to help displaced musicians and others come home. The project has just started building homes but eventually could have nearly 300 houses and the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music.

In April the Dave Matthews Band issued a challenge to match donations for the project up to $1.5 million.

The governors’ association coordinated the fund-raising effort in conjunction with its 72nd Annual Meeting.

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