Three More Cultural Districts in Acadiana Mean More Growth for All

The Louisiana Office of Cultural Development's Division of the Arts has announced that six new cultural districts have been created in the state, and three of those districts will be in Acadiana.

The three new cultural districts will be in Crowley, Franklin, and Iota. They are the following:

• In Acadia Parish, there will be the City of Crowley African American Cultural Historical District
• There will be a second cultural district in Acadia Parish in Iota. It will be the Point-aux-Loups Cultural District.
• In St. Mary Parish, there will be the Franklin Cultural District in the city of Franklin.

You can click here to take a look at all of Louisiana's cultural districts.

One of the huge ways that cultural districts help local areas is by offering tax incentives for the renovation of historical areas and for original works of art.

These districts help to attract local and other visitors who purchase tickets for events and spend their money at shops along with restaurants and other businesses.

Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser's Office shared some statistics about how the districts across the state impacted Louisiana last year:

• 398 news businesses opened in these areas
• There were 536 events that 193,584 people attended
• There were close to 650 commercial renovations started because of districts
• 1,824 businesses were eligible for tax breaks along with hundreds of artists, almost 200 hundred events, and just over 50 organizations

Cultural districts help to incentivize people, businesses, and organizations to create opportunities to make money and raise other taxes according to the Louisiana Office of Tourism. The incentive program was created in 2007 by the Louisiana Legislature.