§4720. City of New Orleans, New Basin Canal and Shell Road; ownership, control, disposition, and use; New Orleans Union Railroad Passenger Terminal facility use; other uses

A. Except as otherwise provided in this Section, the state shall not divest itself of ownership or control of the New Basin Canal and Shell Road and their appurtenances in the city of New Orleans, parish of Orleans.

B.(1) In the event that the city of New Orleans, acting pursuant to the authority granted to it by Act 385 of 1938, shall enter into a contract with certain railroads presently entering the city of New Orleans to construct, maintain, and operate a Union Railroad Passenger Terminal facility adjacent to portions of the property of the New Basin Canal and Shell Road, the Board of Control of the New Basin Canal and Shell Road, or such other board, agency, or department of the state as may be named by law as its successor and custodian of the property, shall have power and authority, with the approval of the governor, to enter into a contract or contracts with the city of New Orleans for the following purposes:

(a) Closing and filling the New Basin Canal or any portion thereof;

(b) Selling to the city of New Orleans such portion or portions of the New Basin Canal and Shell Road and the land on either side thereof as may be required by the city of New Orleans for the construction, maintenance, and operation of a Union Railroad Passenger Terminal Facility; and

(c) Granting such servitude of passage across the property of the New Basin Canal and Shell Road as may be required by the city of New Orleans for railroad purposes.

(2) The contract or contracts hereinabove referred to may be entered into not later than December 1, 1947, after which date the authority herein granted by this Subsection shall become inoperative.

(3) The Board of Control of the New Basin Canal and Shell Road, or such other board, agency, or department of the state as may be named by law as its successor and custodian of the property, shall have power and authority, with approval of the governor, to enter into a contract or contracts with the Department of Transportation and Development for the purpose of closing and filling the New Basin Canal or any portion thereof for highway purposes; however, the Department of Transportation and Development shall make its selection of the portion of the canal and its appurtenances as may be required by the department not later than December 1, 1947.

(4) Should the contract or contracts as hereinabove referred be consummated as hereinabove provided, then the Board of Control of the New Basin Canal and Shell Road, or other board, agency or department of the state as may be named by law as its successor and custodian of the property, shall have the power and authority, with the approval of the governor, to sell and dispose of such other portion or portions of the New Basin Canal and Shell Road as shall not be required for the aforesaid facilities.

(5) Any damages suffered by the lessees of the New Basin Canal and Shell Road as may be lawfully occasioned as a result of the filling of the canal between a point 300 feet north of South Claiborne Avenue and south of a point 3000 feet north of the north property line of the Metairie Road shall be paid by the city of New Orleans, and any damages that may be lawfully occasioned to the lessees as a result of the filling of the canal for highway purposes by the Department of Transportation and Development shall be paid by the department. Authority is hereby granted to lessees to file proper legal proceedings against the Department of Transportation and Development in connection therewith.

C.(1) The state, by and through the governor, may agree with the city of New Orleans and others as to the use for any purpose, other than as provided in Subsection B of this Section, on the site of any property or portion thereof, located within the city of New Orleans Downtown Development District boundaries as set forth in R.S. 33:2740.3(A), that at any time once constituted the whole or part of the New Basin Canal and Shell Road or other property that was granted, conveyed, transferred, sold, donated, or otherwise alienated pursuant to the authority contained in Subsection A of this Section.

(2) The governor is further authorized to convey, transfer, quitclaim, renounce, waive, or otherwise dispose of or put aside, permanently or temporarily, any right, privilege, immunity, condition, abusus, usus, fructus, reversion, servitude, or other interest whatsoever in or to the whole or part of such property in order to achieve such purpose that may be agreed upon.

Acts 1984, No. 954, §1.