New Orleans’ West End is more than waterfront. For generations, families gathered here to fish, sail, row, eat, celebrate and create memories along Lake Pontchartrain. It can again become one of Louisiana’s great public places —honoring its past while creating opportunities for education, recreation and tourism.

Imagine a lakefront boardwalk with historic photographs and displays telling stories of West End, the New Basin Canal, Bucktown, sailing and rowing clubs, the Coast Guard, Wildlife and Fisheries, local restaurants, hurricanes and our resilience.

Imagine a Louisiana guest restaurant pavilion where local and Louisiana restaurants rotate weekly, giving residents and visitors new reasons to return while showcasing the extraordinary culinary heritage of New Orleans, Jefferson Parish and Louisiana. Mobile kitchen facilities could be removed whenever storms threaten.

The long-vacant state-owned yacht yard becomes the West End Heritage Museum, preserving the stories, artifacts, businesses, trades, families, individuals and vessels that shaped this waterfront. Visiting historic boats would create an ever-changing attraction.

Build a waterfront worthy of the past — and the future — of New Orleans, Jefferson and Louisiana.

MICHAEL J. MAYER

Springfield