DONALDSONVILLE — Those looking for information on Ascension Parish’s seat of government and the historic Mississippi River city now have a new source of information, via the Internet.
Donaldsonville’s new website, www.donaldsonville-la.gov, officially launched April 9 after months of efforts from a group of local volunteers.
Baton Rouge Web developer DezinsINTERACTIVE designed the site, while local webmaster Michael Tortorich will manage the site.
The website is a project of Donaldsonville’s Louisiana Development Ready Cities, a volunteer group whose goal is to help the city improve its marketability in hopes of drawing new residents and business.
The group also recently led the charge to create a new logo and slogan for the city.
“We felt if we were going to change the logo of the city, among other things, we needed to rebrand the city with a new, user-friendly website,” Ready Cities committee member Allison Hudson said.
Hudson said launching a new website for the city was one of the biggest agenda items in the group’s strategic plan.
“It fit in well with (the city’s new slogan) ‘Respecting our past and building our future,’ ” Hudson said. “We wanted to let people know where we started, where we are currently and where we are going. I think our website has captured that.”
The new site’s homepage welcomes visitors with a rotating line of pictures of the city landscape and an official welcome from Mayor Leroy Sullivan Sr. At the bottom, links to other pages are written in languages that have been a part of the city’s history: English, French, Spanish, Hebrew, Italian and African dialects.
Current and prospective residents can use the website features for utility bill information and to obtain contact information for city government, fire protection and law enforcement.
The website also can be a valuable tool for those looking to visit Donaldsonville, Hudson said.
“It shows our tourist locations and has information about our Downtown Development District, which brings lots of tourists to our area yearly,” she said. “Visitors can also find information on our annual festivals.”
For business developers, Hudson said, the website offers unique features in the state.
Potential business owners can find out what is required of them locally, statewide and nationally for opening a business in Donaldsonville.
Hudson said future plans for the site include adding a tourism video, which is currently under production. Other plans include offering online payments for municipal services, such as sewer and water.
“Our committee worked for months on the website project, along with DezinsINTERACTIVE, and our months of hard work have come to fruition,” she said. “We’re excited about it. We know that everything will not be perfect and some changes will need to be made, but it’s a work in progress and we are off to a great start.”