26 years later, advocates still hope for bus crash memorial in City Park

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Darrell Mathieu remembers how he found out.

“I was working when I received a page from my wife telling me there was an emergency,” Mathieu recalls of that morning on May 9, 1999, when a tour bus veered of I-610 and crashed. The bus was taking a group of people to the Mississippi coast for a day of gambling and fun. Mathieu’s mother was on board.

It was also Mother’s Day. “I had plans to take her to lunch at a later date,” Mathieu said. Instead he learned that his mother was one of the 22 people killed in the crash.

“My mother went through the front windshield,” Mathieu said. “She was dead upon impact.”

The crash led to stricter regulations for bus drivers and improved crash requirements for large busses. There’s also hope that there will soon be a memorial to remember the victims near the crash site in New Orleans’ City Park.

The crash site can easily be seen from the park. Locating the memorial there would provide a safe place for people to safely be close to the scene.

“Let’s make it happen. What’s taking so long?” Royd Anderson told WGNO News. Anderson is a film maker and already released a documentary on the crash in 2019. That same year, he began leading the effort to have the memorial placed in the park.

Anderson says the memorial would cost less than $4,000 and would be paid for using private donations. He adds that there’s no doubt about the need.

“This was the worst vehicular accident in Louisiana history. 22 people died,” he said.

WGNO News reached out to City Park to see about allowing the memorial. The park’s managing group, the City Park Conservancy, is currently working on a new master plan to address a long list of goals and improvements for the park. We were given this written responds from the CPC.

“City Park Conservancy (CPC) is deeply mindful of the significance of the tragic Mother’s Day bus crash that occurred on I-610 in 1999. We understand the importance of commemorating events that have profoundly impacted our community, and we are aware of the recent interest in installing a memorial near the edge of City Park, close to the site of the incident. CPC is in the final stages of completing a comprehensive City Park Plan that will guide future improvements throughout the Park. The area in proximity to the crash on I-610 is included in this planning process and is expected to undergo renovations and improvements informed by extensive community input. Once the design phase is complete for this area, CPC will have a clearer understanding of how and where historical markers or memorials can be thoughtfully and respectfully integrated into the landscape. We appreciate the community’s interest and engagement and will continue to consider all proposals in a deliberate and inclusive manner as the plan progresses.”

Anderson could know in a matter of weeks if he’ll be allowed to place the memorial in the park. The new master plan will be available for revue on June 25.

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