Karen Villavaso, Kristina Bradford (whole food market) and The Capt, Mary K. Lonatro-Tusa

Currently, the park is recovering, repairing old attractions and adding new ones as well. The Amusement Park has recently reopened, featuring new rides and a brand new miniature train ride.

Karen Villavaso shows Regina Guerra a verbina plant

More long hard work still needs to be done in helping to resurrect the lost Train Garden in City Park. The summer season is here on top of us and weeds are growing fast. "We need lots of volunteers to make this continued clean-up and maintenance a success." Says the Mystic Krewe of Shangi-La's Captain. "The New Orleans parading Mardi Gras Krewe has taken on a serious and arduous task and will be responsible for weeding, cleaning, and planting annuals in the Train Garden."
City Park offers 1300 acres of year-round family fun. Located in the heart of New Orleans' mid-city, City Park offers a wide menu of natural attractions, sports and recreational activity and attractions for children.

City Park was established in the 19th century on the land fronting Metairie Road (now City Park Avenue) along the remains of Bayou Metairie, a former distributary of the Mississippi River, but originally only went back a block or two in distance, as swamp ground extended from there to Lake Pontchartrain. After this area was drained in the mid 20th century, City Park was expanded. Substantial improvements were made to the park by the Works Progress Administration, including many sculptures by Enrique Alferez. It is one of the 10 largest urban parks in the country and holds the world's largest collection of mature live oak trees in the world, some older than 600 years. Its founding in 1853 makes also makes it one of the oldest parks in America.

Standing Regina Guerra weeding Shari Fisher and Kathy McNamara (City Park employee)

City Park's attractions including the New Orleans Botanical Garden, Storyland fairytale playground, and the Carousel Gardens Amusement Park delight visitors of all ages. In addition, several facilities are available to host any public or private event from a formal wedding to a casual picnic, a concert to a business meeting. The hundreds of acres of park land provide enjoyment for young children playing on our playgrounds, walkers, joggers, and bicyclists winding through the park's streets and trails.

City Park is presently continuing on its journey toward recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

Following Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans beloved City Park in New Orleans has been struggling to keep up with the continue maintenance and beauty of the park as we knew before the storm. In an effort to help the park as well as our city recover the Krewe of Shangri-LA has been working over the past several months to do their part and care for the Train Gardens in City Park.


The Krewe members have had much success in restoring the Train Garden to it's pre-Katrina levels, but as summer is setting in the weeds are returning in full force.

Kristina Bradford in Volunteering in City Park

Monthly, the Krewe meets with volunteers to continue the efforts to restore and maintain this great treasure in New Orleans. This website thanks you for the efforts that you are doing and if you would like to help, please contact Karen Villavaso Project Chairperson at 887-5993 or cell 453-7051, or by e-mail kvillavaso@aol.com if you will be able to attend. Looking forward to seeing you in the park on the next cleanup day.

Next Weeding date July 21 9:30 till Noon. Bring a friend so our volunteers will grow - refreshment will be served.


OFFICIAL KREWE WEBSITE: http://www.kreweofshangrila.com/

visit the website at
http://www.vestsforthebest.com/