Municipal Yacht Harbor

In 1906 the State granted to the City of New Orleans a “right of administration” to the area outside of the levee, between the New Basin Canal and the 17th Street Canal. The State also allowed the City to fill for a specified distance out into the Lake. West End Park was developed and the spectacular Darlington Electric Prismatic Fountain was installed. The State’s grant of the “right of administration” while not transferring title to the City, did allow for leasing to third parties (now for slips, boathouses and commercial uses) and the collection of rent, though providing that any such rents must be used at West End and cannot be used by the City elsewhere.Between 1938 and 1940, as a WPA project, Breakwater Drive was constructed, thus allowing for the construction of Municipal Yacht Harbor. In the 1950s the boathouses were constructed around the perimeter of Municipal Yacht Harbor, with the water bottoms being leased to tenants by the City and the boathouse structures being owned by the tenants. In 1959, the City, with the State’s permission, transferred its “right of administration” to the area that is now Orleans Marina (together with the boathouses and businesses surrounding it) to the Orleans Levee. District, which then created Orleans Marina. By 1981 a significant refurbishment of Municipal Yacht Harbor was required and approximately $3.5 Million was borrowed from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. In order to facilitate that bond issue, the City had formed a public benefit corporation in 1979 – the New Orleans Municipal Yacht Harbor Management Corporation (MYHMC). At that point the role of MYHMC was limited to Municipal Yacht Harbor