Those who’ve been clamoring for a New Orleans jazz museum will finally find out how valuable such an entity is. This afternoon, Lt.-Governor Mitch Landrieu announced that the Old U.S. Mint will be transformed into a jazz museum that will be part of the National Parks Service. The centerpiece of the renovation will be the creation of a state of the art performance theater that will have recording-quality sound. 

The work is scheduled to begin in the next few months, and if all goes according to schedule, it will open in early June, 2010.