Travel
Gabbi Shaw
Updated
- During Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, Six Flags New Orleans was completely flooded.
- Since then, the park has stood abandoned, save for visits from urban explorers and alligators.
- A lease was signed in October 2023 to begin redeveloping the land, but work has not started yet.
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Before Hurricane Katrina hammered the Gulf Coast in 2005, killing almost 1,400 people and destroying millions of dollarsworth of property, there was a Six Flags just outside New Orleans.
After the storm, the park was flooded. Once the waters finally receded, the question became: What should we do with this park?
Almost two decades later, Six Flags New Orleans still sits abandoned, now a time capsule of life before Katrina. However, as of August 2023, plans for a $500 million development are moving ahead, reported Axios New Orleans. A lease was signed two months later in October. But no ground has been broken, meaning, for now, it's still sitting silently.
Here's what it looks like now, how it's been used since the storm, and what the city has decided to do with the park.
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The Six Flags was left submerged in floodwaters in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.
After the floodwaters receded, what was left of the amusem*nt park was a wasteland.
The park, which spans 140 acres, has been abandoned since the hurricane.
The sign still reads "Closed for Storm."
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The park opened in 2000. Originally called Jazzland, it was acquired by Six Flags in 2003 and renamed Six Flags New Orleans (SFNO).
Its location in a low-income neighborhood (New Orleans East) that's far away from other classic New Orleans tourist attractions, like the French Quarter, was not ideal.
The park was one of the least profitable parks in the Six Flags family.
The financial issues continued even after Jazzland turned into a Six Flags.
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SFNO took its inspiration from the city, including areas based on the famous architecture of the French Quarter.
The real French Quarter is home to hundreds of years of history.
After the storm, the park was left standing in 4 to 7 feet of water, and it had extensive wind and flood damage.
Almost all of the "flat rides" were submerged, according to Modern Day Ruins.
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The severity of the damage caused the park to close indefinitely.
The gates remain locked.
In 2006, Six Flags declared the park a "total loss" and reportedly tried to get out of its 75-year lease.
The city of New Orleans took over in 2009, according to Abandoned America.
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There have been numerous attempts to reopen or revamp the park.
According to the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report, Southern Star Amusem*nt announced its plans to completely refurbish and even expand the park in 2008. However, these plans were canceled in 2009.
Later, in 2009, Nickelodeon announced its own plan to turn the park into a Nickelodeon-themed attraction.
These plans were also scrapped, reported NOLA.com.
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By 2011, the city of New Orleans had approved plans to construct a shopping center called Jazzland Outlet Mall in its place.
But, as The New Orleans Advocate reported, just two years later, this idea was called off, too.
Another proposed idea in 2011 was reopening the park under its original name, Jazzland.
While the Industrial Development Board of New Orleans originally went with the outlet mall plan, Jazzland continued pursuing its idea and maintained its interest in purchasing the land in 2017, according to NOLA.com.
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The Industrial Development Board turned over decision-making power to the mayor in May 2017.
Mitch Landrieu was the Mayor of New Orleans from 2010 to 2018 — his term ended in May that year. It became his decision in 2017.
When another company made its interest in the land known, pitching the "Dreamlanding Festival Park," Mayor Landrieu didn't approve.
NOLA.com reported in 2018 that current mayor LaToya Cantrell also passed on Dreamlanding Festival Park.
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In 2019, new mayor LaToya Cantrell announced she was "running numbers for demolition" on the park, but ultimately, it stayed standing.
According to NOLA.com, the demolition was predicted to cost $1.3 million. Instead, Mayor Cantrell has since decided on a different route.
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In October 2021, Bayou Phoenix was chosen as the redeveloper of the park.
Bayou Phoenix's plan includes "a sports complex, an indoor/outdoor waterpark and hotel, a logistics center, a mega travel center, and the redevelopment of the Eastover Country Club, Golf Course and Residences."
The choice was made official in October 2021.
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Even after the redeveloper was selected, the park still stands as a marker of the devastation that the storm caused almost 20 years ago.
There are also parts of New Orleans proper that haven't recovered.
But the land hasn't been completely ignored over the years. Many movies have been shot at the park, like "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters," which transformed it into Circeland.
"A reported 100 alligators were removed from the site as it was being prepared for the crew to take over," according to NOLA.com.
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Blockbusters that have taken advantage of the decidedly creepy atmosphere are "Jurassic World" and "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes."
According to Wired, the "Jurassic World" crew filmed at the park for nine weeks.
The last film shot at Six Flags New Orleans was "The Park," released in 2023.
As NOLA.com reported, in addition to "The Park," other movies filmed at SFNO include "Deepwater Horizon," "Reminiscence," "Project Power," and "Stolen."
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TV shows have also used the site. Freeform's "Cloak & Dagger" had an episode focused on the park in 2018.
"Cloak & Dagger," one of the TV shows that's part of the larger extended Marvel universe, took place in New Orleans — so of course, the characters had to visit the landmark in an episode fittingly titled "Funhouse Mirrors."
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A documentary, "Closed for Storm," was released in November 2020. It's about the rise and fall of the park.
YouTube documentarian Jake Williams told NOLA.comit took five months to get permission from the city of New Orleans to film inside the park. Speaking of abandoned places, "They're like museums," he told the site, "like walking through a period of time."
The film is now streaming on Tubi, as well as VOD.
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But besides filming, the park has stood empty, making it a popular attraction for urban explorers.
There are plenty of YouTube videos.
Much of the park is still intact. Visitors have said it looks like the site of a "Leftovers"-esque disappearance as if all of the park's visitors magically vanished.
"Walking into the abandoned amusem*nt park 10 years after Hurricane Katrina devastated it was an eerie experience. Gone was the scent of cotton candy and the sounds of laughter as I walked into the abandoned Six Flags Amusem*nt Park. It was like the whole world had died, and I was the only one left. It wasn't just surreal. It was apocalyptic," photographer Seph Lawless told the New York Daily News in 2015.
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Visitors should know there are dangers at SFNO, including alligators that live in the park's waterways.
You can see them in this YouTube video, for one.
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A deal was finally reached in March 2023 to begin developing. In October, a lease was signed.
"I applaud NORA (New Orleans Redevelopment Authority) and Bayou Phoenix on reaching this critical milestone toward the redevelopment of the blighted former Six Flags site," Cantrell said, according to 4WWL.
In May 2023, NORA said Bayou Phoenix's 700-page plan still had holes and most likely needed to be redone, according to NOLA.com.
By October, Bayou Phoenix finally signed a lease for the land. As Biz New Orleans reported, the next step is raising $500 million to begin construction, and signing tenants. According to the report, the site could contain "a water park, a youth sports facility, two hotels, an 8.5-acre man-made lake, a movie studio, an amphitheater, and retail outlets."
But that hasn't happened yet.
So, for now, the park stands as a testament to the long-lasting and apocalyptic impact of Hurricane Katrina on the city of New Orleans and the entire Gulf Coast.
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