The
Ernest N. Morial Convention CenterA convention center is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typically offer sufficient floor area to accommodate several thousand attendees...
is in
New Orleans, LouisianaNew Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The lower end of building one is located 1640 feet (500 m) upriver from
Canal StreetCanal Street is a major thoroughfare in the city of New Orleans. Forming the upriver boundary of the city's oldest neighborhood, the French Quarter , it acted as the dividing line between the older French/Spanish Colonial-era city and the newer American Sector, today's Central Business District.The...
on the banks of the
Mississippi RiverThe Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. It is named after former
Mayor of New Orleans Ernest N. Morial. As of 2006, it has about 1.1 million square feet (102,000 m²) of exhibit space, covering almost 11 blocks, and over 3 million square feet (280,000 m²) of total space. The front of the main building is 1 kilometer long.
History
The center was planned starting in 1978. It is the 5th-largest facility of its kind in the United States, and as of early 2005 was the second-busiest. The first portion of the building was constructed as part of the
1984 Louisiana World ExpositionThe 1984 Louisiana World Exposition was a World's Fair held in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was held 100 years after the city's earlier World's Fair, the World Cotton Centennial in 1884. It opened on Saturday, May 12, 1984 and ended on Sunday, November 11, 1984...
; a series of additions in subsequent decades expanded the center further upriver. The complex was named in honor of Ernest N. Morial, the city's first African American mayor, in 1992. In 2008, the Center was renamed the New Orleans Morial Convention Center in order to emphasize its New Orleans location.
From August 26 through 27, 2005,
Wheel of Fortune came to tape three weeks of shows at the convention center. But as
Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
threatened the area, they canceled the last week in order to evacuate. In
the aftermath of KatrinaThe effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans have been long-lasting. As the center of Katrina passed South-east of New Orleans on August 29, 2005, winds downtown were in the Category 3 range with frequent intense gusts and tidal surge. Hurricane force winds were experienced throughout the...
, the Convention Center was the second most important shelter for survivors, after the
Louisiana SuperdomeThe Mercedes-Benz Superdome, previously known as the Louisiana Superdome and colloquially known as the Superdome, is a sports and exhibition arena located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA...
. After serving as a temporary medical clinic for some time, the structure again began welcoming conventions in early 2006, including that of the
American Library AssociationThe American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
.
The Convention Center recently finished a complete renovation of the facility in November 2006. A previously scheduled expansion project, which would add 524000 square feet (48,681.2 m²) of exhibition space in a new building, has been temporarily delayed.
Hurricane Katrina aftermath and controversy
After Hurricane Katrina passed through the city in 2005, thousands of evacuees were directed to the Convention Center as an unofficial
evacuationEmergency evacuation is the immediate and rapid movement of people away from the threat or actual occurrence of a hazard. Examples range from the small scale evacuation of a building due to a bomb threat or fire to the large scale evacuation of a district because of a flood, bombardment or...
center. In the confusion following the disaster, people escaping from
floodA flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
ed neighborhoods were directed to the Convention Center by
policeThe police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
and word of mouth, with the expectation that there would be provisions, aid, and evacuation
busA bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es there. However no such resources were actually there for several days. Thousands gathered at the complex in difficult conditions with no power, no water, no food, no medical supplies, no proper
sanitationSanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...
, and no public order, only minimal occasional
law enforcementIn North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...
presence within the center, resulting in incidents of
crimeCrime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
and gang violence. There were reports of multiple deaths at the center, from causes including violence,
dehydrationIn physiology and medicine, dehydration is defined as the excessive loss of body fluid. It is literally the removal of water from an object; however, in physiological terms, it entails a deficiency of fluid within an organism...
, and lack of
medicationA pharmaceutical drug, also referred to as medicine, medication or medicament, can be loosely defined as any chemical substance intended for use in the medical diagnosis, cure, treatment, or prevention of disease.- Classification :...
for the ill. The poor conditions and lack of prompt government response at the convention center were revealed to the nation on several TV news networks including
CNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
and
FoxFox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
. Secretary of
Homeland SecurityHomeland security is an umbrella term for security efforts to protect states against terrorist activity. Specifically, is a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the U.S., reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do...
Michael ChertoffMichael Chertoff was the second United States Secretary of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush and co-author of the USA PATRIOT Act. He previously served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, as a federal prosecutor, and as assistant U.S. Attorney...
falsely claimed to be unaware of any problem with conditions even after the networks had been broadcasting images and live reports from the Convention Center. The Morial Convention Center was declared evacuated on September 4.
External links