DONALDSONVILLE - A $1 million renovation of a 200-year-old park in the heart of Donaldsonville will make it the future home of regional festivals - like the Rural Roots of Jazz Fest.

The renovation of Crescent Park - created in 1806, the same year the city was founded by an Englishman, William Donaldson, on the west bank of the Mississippi - is just one of the new ways Donaldsonville plans to share its rich history and culture with the world.

City officials envision Rural Roots as opening each year on the Thursday before the famous, two-weekend New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

A cooperative effort of the Downtown Development District and the local Chamber of Commerce is bringing the city's past alive.