Kenner and Jefferson Parish officials broke ground Tuesday morning on a sprawling new inclusive playground at Laketown, a Louisiana-themed park that officials say will become the largest of its kind in the Gulf South. The 10:30 a.m. ceremony took place at 4540 Williams Boulevard, right next to the Kenner Boat Launch on the Lake Pontchartrain waterfront.
Jefferson Parish District 4 Councilwoman Arita Bohannan and Kenner Mayor Michael Glaser led the groundbreaking, according to a Facebook post from Bohannan's office announcing the event. The playground's Louisiana theme will include wildlife elements, a trawl boat, and a fishing camp, according to New Orleans CityBusiness, which reported that officials describe it as a large regional recreation attraction.
The design brings together playground manufacturer Little Tikes Commercial, non-profit design group Unlimited Play, and regional vendor Swift Recreation, the same trio behind Jefferson Parish's recent inclusive-play expansion. CityBusiness placed the project within a broader push to revitalize Kenner's Laketown waterfront district, a goal that has been building for years through smaller public investments in the area.
Building on Miguez Park and Lafreniere Park
This is not Kenner's first attempt at accessible play. The city opened Anthony's Missing Pieces Playground at Miguez Park back in February 2022, an 8,000-square-foot sensory-inclusive space co-founded by Bohannan's family alongside Unlimited Play, according to Visit Jefferson Parish. Jefferson Parish followed that up in July 2025 with Tripp's Treehouse, an inclusive playground at Lafreniere Park in Metairie built through the same Unlimited Play, Little Tikes Commercial, and Swift Recreation partnership.
The pattern reflects what parish leaders and Unlimited Play have described as a methodical, multi-year effort to expand universally accessible recreation across Jefferson Parish. Demand for that kind of infrastructure runs high in Louisiana: state survey data from 2022 and 2023 found that roughly 23.2% of Louisiana children have special healthcare or developmental needs, well above the 19.5% national average, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.
Laketown's Bigger Redevelopment Picture
The playground is landing in a corner of Kenner that has seen a steady stream of public investment lately. Laketown itself spans 30 acres of lakefront land at the northern end of Williams Boulevard, with boat launches, fishing piers, jogging paths, and pavilions already in place, per Visit Jefferson Parish. In June 2024, the city installed a dozen green LED lights along the Laketown fishing pier for under $2,000 to lure marine life for night fishing, an idea modeled on a similar setup in Grand Isle.
Jefferson Parish and Kenner also authorized a $75,000 Cooperative Endeavor Agreement in November 2025 to fund a consolidated master planning study covering Laketown and the nearby Esplanade Mall corridor. And this past July, the Kenner City Council unanimously approved a $90,000 agreement with CMC's Services to handle garden and grounds maintenance across the Laketown district, according to Govly.
Kenner's waterfront has also picked up a notable sports anchor: the New Orleans Pelicans announced in March that their NBA G League affiliate will move into the Pontchartrain Center in Laketown and rebrand as the Laketown Squadron starting with the 2026-27 season, a story Hoodline covered earlier this year. The team will play in the renovated 3,700-seat venue, adding foot traffic to a district officials are betting will draw families to the new playground as well.
