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Lafitte Drive-In Park, located off of South John Hardy Drive near Charity Street, will open this Saturday. It will be open only on Saturdays and Sundays.

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Donated picnic tables are part of what visitors will be able to enjoy at Lafitte Drive In Park. The park will officially open on Saturd

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Lafitte Drive In Park is not lacking in green space.

Abbeville’s Lafitte Drive-In Park opening on Saturday

Possibilities for what it could end up being are plenty, but Lafitte Drive-In Park has something to offer now.
“It’s a beautiful space just to be out in nature,” Abbeville Councilman Francis Plaisance said.
Visitors will have an opportunity to see Abbeville’s newest park when Lafitte Drive-In Park officially opens on Saturday. It will be open on Saturdays and Sundays, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The park is located off South John Hardy near Charity Street. Those who visit the park are reminded that fishing in the pond at the park is not allowed.
Lafitte Drive-In Park is named in honor of the former drive-in movie theater that occupied the land. The city purchased the property from the deGrauww family, and city officials wanted to have a name that connected the park to the land’s past.
“I have talked to people who said they would come out here to check it out because they have such fond memories of coming to the drive-in,” Plaisance said.
Plaisance, who helped spearhead the effort to create the park, said to say that he is excited is an understatement now that it is opening.
“It’s still a work in progress,” Plaisance said. “This has been five years in the making. It has been a personal project that I have worked on as Councilman at Large. Thanks to Mayor Mark Piazza’s help, as well as Clay Menard, Public Works Director, and all the City Workers, the park is scheduled to open.
“There are still some things we want to try to do, but I am so excited that it is going to be open.”
Councilwoman Terry Broussard, whose District D includes the park, was not a member of the council when plans for the park first began. She is happy to now be part of the process.
“I’m happy to provide an outdoor space for citizens to enjoy,” Broussard said. “Lafitte Drive-In Park is in its early stages and future developments will depend on available funding.
“I’d like to thank Councilman Francis Plaisance for his dedication and work.”
For Plaisance, what will make this project thrive is a public-private partnership. That has already been the case for the picnic tables that are under the line of trees near the pond. Those tables were donated by Gulf Coast Bank, Roderick Campbell and Ray Chevrolet.
“My goal is to build a public-private partnership for this park,” Plaisance said. “We would welcome anyone who has an interest in being a part of this.”
Plans include a dog park. The city has looked into grants for a walking trail. There is currently no fishing allowed in the pond, but Plaisance said the hope is that a plan can be created for that to happen at some point in the future.
As for Saturday, people can simply come out and enjoy the green space and scenery.
“It is a beautiful park being designed for families to enjoy,” Plaisance said. “Come out and enjoy the memory of the Lafitte Drive-In, picnic and enjoy.”

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