I heard that the five developers who responded to a request for proposal for the use of the World Trade Center building at the head of Canal Street (adjacent to Spanish Plaza) were making their final presentations to the city regarding use of the 33-story building that’s owned by the city.

All of the proposals include a mix of hotels, parking, apartments, and a conversion of the bar and restaurant atop the building (us old-timers knew it as “Top of The Mart,” with a revolving review of the city). Two of the proposals include a “visitor attraction” (HRI Properties and Carpenter and Co./Woodward Interests).

Readers of this column and my blogs during the past 20 or so years know (and probably understand better) the need for a world-class music museum in New Orleans.

In a city that’s the birthplace of jazz, the site of the nation’s first opera house, arguably the birthplace of rhythm and blues (and rock ’n’ roll), and the home of Mardi Gras Indian rhythms, funk, brass bands, hip-hop and bounce (street music taken to another level), the opportunity to create such an iconic attraction in a property as iconic and ideally-suited should not be missed.

After all these years in this business, it still amazes me how blind most of the hospitality industry is to the appeal of our music worldwide. The people who produce the Jazz Fest and French Quarter Festival understand this: they host a rapidly increasing number of visitors from outside Louisiana, as well as more and more foreign visitors, to these events. Foreign visitors especially are attracted to New Orleans solely to experience our musical culture. Yet, hospitality industry leaders in the city still don’t seem to “get it.” Music is obviously part of the total package they promote to potential visitors, but our musical culture is not (in their view) that important.

We have so many resources that could be packaged and presented to inform and educate not only visitors, but locals (and especially children) on music and its relationship to New Orleans’ culture, art and even food.

There are some exhibits at the Louisiana State Museum (Old U.S. Mint and Cabildo), but they are not up to par on what can be seen and experienced at museums like the ones in Nashville (Country Music), Cleveland (Rock and Roll), Seattle (Experience Music Project) or even at the small museums in Memphis. There are some out-of-the-way museums with collections that have been put together by dedicated individuals and some institutions: Backstreet Museum, House of Dance and Feathers, The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation Archive, Tulane Jazz Archives, Historic New Orleans Collection, Amistad Research Center, and a few more. None of them has the resources or location to become a major attraction.

We need a museum desperately. OffBeat staff meets so many journalists and visitors from the U.S. and throughout the world. They have “heard” of Preservation Hall, and they “know” about jazz, but there’s just no place for them to go to get the story of our music.

It seems to me that if the winning developer for the World Trade Center property does not include a museum in its plans, that we are missing the greatest opportunity we have to showcase the rich story of our music to visitors, locals and generations to come.

Here’s a good example of how important our music is: OffBeat was recently invited to participate in an exhibit (“New Orleans: The Sound of a City”) that’s scheduled to take place in Berlin, Germany. The exhibit opens on March 27 and runs through April 26, 2015, and the opening reception on March 26 includes the attendance of U.S. Ambassador to Germany John B. Emerson, Big Freedia, Mardi Gras Indians, a brass band, and more. One of the curators, Clemens Gubernath, and his son visited New Orleans in February for almost a month. Gubernath’s first exhibition of American music was last year, when they showcased Memphis, which as of now has several museums (Rock ‘N’ Soul Museum, created by the Smithsonian, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, Graceland and Sun Studios).

Incidentally, the Grammy organization, which is constantly trying to drum up membership in Louisiana, is behind the establishment of the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame that will be located in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

There’s a group seeking to establish a Traditional Jazz Museum in New Orleans at the moment, and they are seeking a site, but none has been selected yet. Personally, I believe that jazz is at the root of all the music in New Orleans, but there’s a lot more here to be celebrated.

It’s just a pity and a shame that a music museum isn’t on the top of the list for New Orleans. Maybe the winning developer for the World Trade Center will think more progressively.