June 22, 2001 – Sen. Norma Pickard-Samuel will hold a town meeting on the Nadir Gut development project at 6 p.m. Monday at the Nadir basketball court.
The impetus for the meeting came from the Nadir community's young people, because the project will run through the Nadir basketball court, she said.
The infamous "bridge to nowhere" by the busy intersection of roads from Bovoni, Tutu and Red Hook has symbolized the frustration of Nadir residents for years, standing useless while no work is done to prevent the flooding the area suffers each year in storm season.
When the project will be finished is a "million-dollar question," Pickard-Samuel said. However, the good news is that it is about to move forward. She has invited officials of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Water and Power Authority, and Public Works and Housing, Parks and Recreation Departments to the meeting.
The project involves rerouting of the Nadir gut. Pickard-Samuel said she hopes it will also include finding a new home for the basketball court. She said Ira Hobson, Housing, Parks and Recreation commissioner, is "especially sensitive" to relocating the basketball court, the only outdoor recreation site in Nadir.
The senator said she hopes Nadir residents will attend the meeting to hear the officials "explain to us in layman's English the phases of the project, the impact on traffic and the estimated date of completion."
