Mayoral Accomplishments
Fant was credited with maintaining racial calm in Shreveport during the late 1950s and early 1960s at the height of the civil rights movement, when a majority of the city's voters were segregationists. Fant instituted municipal programs aimed at uplifting black citizens, including slum clearance. By the time that he finally left office in 1970, nearly 7,500 dwellings had been rehabilitated, and another 2,000 were demolished. Fant's successor, Calhoun Allen, continued such outreach to the black community, but racial resentments continued for decades.
Under Fant, an area along the Red River was developed as the site of the Shreveport Convention Center and Civic Center complex. Later the popular Clyde Fant Parkway, named in the former mayor's honor, brought regular, joggers, walkers, and bicyclists into the Riverfront area. The acclaimed R.S. Barnwell Memorial Garden and Art Center was also established when Fant was mayor. Other projects in the Fant years included the Shreveport-Barksdale Air Force Base bridge, the Jewella-Milam Street connection, the Youree Drive extension (under renovation in 2006), and the Southern Avenue and Spring Street viaduct.
In 1953, Fant was selected by the LMA as "Louisiana's Mayor of the Year." The National Municipal League and Look magazine, moreover, named Shreveport as one of the nation's top eleven cities. That same year, Fant was the first individual to receive the Shreveport Advertising Club's annual award called "Shreveport's Best Ad," a designation given to an institution or a person who brought the city the most favorable publicity during the year. Fant was a past president of the Broadmoor Kiwanis Club.
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