My friend Kathy of Between Piety & Desire has been helping to organize an event which I think could be really critical in helping to revitalize an important but run-down public space.

Friday on the Roch is a new community event in the St. Claude Avenue neighborhood which will happen monthly beginning this Friday, August 24th. The old St. Roch Market was chosen as the location because of its cultural and historical significance. This city-owned building is well over 100 years old and was renovated back in the 1930s as part of a WPA project. It was once the site of a public marketplace, but it sustained a lot of damage during Katrina and has sat empty in disrepair ever since. A couple of years ago I lived only blocks from the St. Roch Market, and I've often thought what a cool building this is and wished that someone would do something to bring this place back to life. I'm so glad that plans are now in the works to do just that.

Friday on the Roch will be held from 5pm-9pm on the neutral ground behind St. Roch Market. There will be live musical performances by Sunpie Barnes and the Louisiana Sunspots, and the Black Notes, a jazz sextet from NOCCA. There will also be plenty of food & drink (pralines, fresh seafood, baked goods, po-boys, sno-balls...) as well as arts & crafts vendors. Kathy told me that the hope is for this event to join up with some of the other farmers markets that take place nearby and possibly to make this a weekly event in the future. If all goes well, maybe one day the people organizing this event will be able to tackle leasing and running the St. Roch Market itself and restore it to its former glory as a true community marketplace.

I can't wait to check out Friday on the Roch; I'm definitely going to have to stop by after work. I'm really hoping it takes off; I think it could be a major step in the right direction for the neighborhood, as well as the city.