A group of 75 or so people gathered Aug. 13 in Slidell, lured in by a simple question: What should go in the spot where the beleaguered North Shore Square Mall now sits?

Think big, one of the discussion moderators, Keith Espadron of the St. Tammany Economic Development Corporation, told the group. “If you could dream your dream.”

The answers were all over the place. A film production facility. A trade school or college campus. An entertainment district.

“Indoor sports. It’s hot outside,” one person said.

“Laser tag — that’s fun,” said a teen-aged girl. “Or go-karts. Stuff like that.”

Don’t forget the adults, another woman said. “They would love to have soft music, dinner and dancing.”

“A Great Wolf Lodge. They have a humongous indoor water park,” said yet another woman, prompting

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