Head Kegger

And you were beginning to think there was nothing to do this evening.

Magazine Street block reopened
Posted by The Times Picayune August 17, 2007 11:50AM

By Leslie Williams

Staff writer

The more than two-year-long blockade of a section of New Orleans' Magazine Street has ended. Traffic began flowing again in the 1300 block of the commercial hub on Thursday.

"Thank you, Jesus!," said Gee Mercadel, the owner of Sophie's Gelato, one of several businesses that atrophied after the normally heavily traveled portion of the street was closed to vehicular traffic at Melpomene Street. "It's the prettiest part of Magazine and it finally is going to get a chance to live again."

"I'm so excited," said City Councilwoman Stacy Head, who credited "the hard work of a lot of different departments working together to get this done."

In celebration of the victory, Head is throwing a keg party today at 5:30 p.m. at the Bridge Lounge, 1201 Magazine St.

Work on the closed section of the street has been at a standstill since about May 2005, when the owners of two buildings, one on each side of the street, got a court to issue stop-work orders. They said their properties had been seriously damaged by a Sewerage & Water Board contractor digging up the street to install a culvert.

The city had kept the street closed to traffic since then because of fears that the damaged buildings might collapse, posing a danger to the public.

I wonder if she'll complain about anyone leaving the party with an open container.