Block by Block initiative helping keep city beautiful

Running a city like Shreveport can make a person feel like they’re being pushed over the edge. Mayor Tom Arceneaux has the opportunity to go over the edge for real, and for a couple of good causes.

“If you’re willing to be adventurous, the mayor’s office offers a lot of little opportunities,” Arceneaux said. “This is one of them. I am looking forward to it.”

Arceneaux will go Over the Edge on Friday, Oct. 3, to raise money for the Fuller Center for Housing and Shreveport Common.

“They called and asked me if I would rappel down the 15-floor Fairmont Building in downtown Shreveport,” he said. “And I agreed. I had to raise a certain amount of money. I have raised my money. So I am going over the edge at 3 o’clock on Friday, Oct. 3.”

Arceneaux said other people will have the opportunity to join in the fun the next day, on Saturday, Oct. 4.

“You make a donation and raise a specified minimum amount, and that is how you go over the edge,” he said.

The mayor said he is looking forward to his unique chance to raise money and, he hopes, have a little fun, too.

“I am very excited about it,” Arceneaux said. “I have a feeling I will be a little adrenaline-filled. I have never done this. Fifteen floors is a long way up.”

He added that it can be difficult to get a perspective on just how high up it is.

“Elizabeth and I were hanging an American flag from our second-floor balcony,” he said. “That was high. And then I thought, ‘That’s nothing compared to 15 floors.’ I am looking forward to doing it, and I am looking forward to being on the ground after doing it.”

Block by Block turning heads

Arceneaux traveled with a team from Shreveport to Baton Rouge last week to attend the Keep Louisiana Beautiful annual conference.

“Keep Louisiana Beautiful used to be an adjunct of the lieutenant governor’s office, but now it’s its own entity,” he said.

Arceneaux and the Shreveport team were invited to the conference to make a presentation about the recent Block by Block initiative, in which volunteers worked to remove debris from a number of Shreveport neighborhoods through designated cleanup days.

“They had heard about our Block by Block initiative and wanted us to make a presentation about it,” he said. “Tuesday, we made a presentation — myself, Terrance Green, director of Property Standards, Karen Barnes from Visit Shreveport-Bossier and Lauren Jones from Shreveport Green. We made a presentation about how it got started, what we did, how we did it — kind of a general overview of this first phase, and where we are going to go from here. Then we took questions.”

Arceneaux said the presentation drew a lot of interest.

“We were supposed to have a half-hour session, and we wound up doing an hour-and-10-minute session,” he said. “We had lots of questions from people. I told them this was the first phase, that the next phase would be community meetings, and then a long-range plan.”

One of the things the mayor emphasized is that the project’s improvisational nature helped it get off the ground faster.

“Basically, we are planning as we are doing,” he said. “I think the analogy I used is that we are flying an airplane and designing it as we go. It is already designed enough to fly. Now we are trying to make it go higher, faster and farther.”

In addition to making the presentation, Shreveport was also honored with an award from Keep Louisiana Beautiful for the initiative.

“Shreveport Green nominated us for a community improvement award,” Arceneaux said.” They gave us recognition for Block by Block in a presentation before the conference.”

The recognition included an acrylic trophy in the shape of the state, along with a nice bonus that no one knew about until they returned to Shreveport.

“On the bottom of the trophy was an envelope,” Arceneaux said. “We didn’t know what the envelope was for. I thought it was protecting the bottom of the trophy. When Marcus (Edwards) took it home, he opened the envelope and found a $500 check inside. We’ll put that back toward Block by Block.”

Reveling in the season

As we flip the calendar to October, Arceneaux said it is a great time to be in Shreveport.

“October is a fabulous month for the city of Shreveport,” he said. “No. 1, it’s one of our best weather months of the year. October and April are Chamber of Commerce weather months.”

And Shreveport knows how to take advantage of the beautiful weather. On Thursday, Sept. 25, the mayor and his wife, Elizabeth, led a second line parade to kick off the opening of the Red River Revel Arts Festival in Festival Plaza.

“It’s the 49th Revel,” he said. “So we re gearing up for next year, but this year will be wonderful as well.”