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2010 New Orleans Nine: Central City’s Dew Drop Inn
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Central City is home to some of New Orleans’ most important tangible ties to its musical heritage, too many of which are threatened with demolition by neglect. This year Louisiana Landmarks Society named two such buildings to its New Orleans Nine most endangered list, the Professor Longhair House and the Dew Drop Inn. The latter, one of this city’s most storied and flamboyant night spots, is an iconic example of the importance of music venues to New Orleans culture.
The former Dew Drop is comprised of two joined commercial buildings at 2836 La Salle Street facing the former site of the Magnolia Street Housing Project. Barber Frank Painia purchased the first building in 1939 and renovated it to include a barber shop, restaurant and bar. He soon purchased the adjoining property for a hotel, and his side work booking African American acts in the few available venues around the city led him to open his own nightclub in 1945.
The Dew Drop was one of the first of its kind in New Orleans. During the era of segregation travelling acts could stay in the hotel, which quickly put the venue on the radar of the nation’s most important jazz, blues, and rhythm & blues artists. Ray Charles, Little Richard, Ike & Tine Turner, Sam Cooke, and many more would play there. Equally important was the club’s open atmosphere which welcomed a constant influx of young local talent including Allen Toussaint, Aaron Neville, Irma Thomas, and Earl King. Typical shows, hosted by the Dew Drop’s famous cross-dressing emcees, evolved over the course of an evening, with comedians, shake dancers, and other variety acts preceding the music. In every respect, the Dew Drop was one of the most beloved venues of both patrons and artists and one of the most important centers of musical innovation and cross-pollination in New Orleans before closing in 1970.
Frank Painia died in 1972 and his grandson owns the now vacant building. Its current façade bears little resemblance to that of its heyday in the 1950s and 60s. Like the Professor Longhair House, the Dew Drop Inn was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 as part of the Central City Historic District, and its local landmark designation is pending. As a result, federal and state historic tax credits could be used for its restoration. One can only hope that someday soon someone will be able to put the needed work into the building before it, like so many other historic New Orleans nightclubs, is lost for good.
For more information on the Dew Drop’s past, check out this clip from WYES’ “The Nightlife That Was” documentary, and this 2004 American Routes segment on Pasty Vidalia, the club’s infamous long-time transvestite emcee (begins 41 minutes into the show’s second hour – fast forwarding is easy!).
Carver School To Be Demolished
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Of New Orleans’ three Modern schools eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, only George Washington Carver Junior-Senior High in the Ninth Ward will be demolished without the benefit of the standard federally mandated historic preservation consultation process (Section 106 review). Unlike Lafon and Wheatley schools, decisions concerning Carver’s fate were streamlined through a Secondary Programmatic Agreement between FEMA and the Recovery School District (RSD). Under this, the district recommended demolition and FEMA and the SHPO agreed with minimal feedback from outside parties. While it is neither reasonable nor feasible to put every historic structure through the full consultation process, it is sad indeed that buildings as important as those on the Carver campus will be lost with so little public input.
Designed by Curtis & Davis and completed in 1958, Carver was part of the $30 million building program which gave New Orleans its outstanding collection of modern schools. The program, headed by a progressive Orleans Parish School Board and Tulane School of Architecture’s Charles Colbert, had been launched five years earlier in response to antiquated conditions found throughout the district after World War II.
Curtis & Davis had recently completed their award-winning Thomy Lafon Elementary when they won the commission for the $3 million Carver complex. Their cruciform design consisted of a central raised classroom building flanked by wings to the east and west, connected by walkways to a gymnasium and cafeteria to the north and auditorium to the south. The auditorium was the campus’ stylistic jewel, with dramatic hinged concrete buttresses anchoring its vaulted roof. Carver received Progressive Architecture’s highest honor, the First Design Award, in 1957, and was hailed one of the most forward-thinking school designs in the nation.
While most of Carver’s buildings have been seriously altered over the years, both the auditorium and butterfly-roofed cafeteria retain their architectural integrity despite flooding after Hurricane Katrina. The auditorium in particular is in excellent condition, and could easily be incorporated into designs for the new school intended for the thirty-three acre site.
As the story goes though, the RSD has no interest in retaining either building. Its representatives blame bat and rat infestations on the auditorium’s design – which could instead have something to do with the fact that the building is open to the elements – and state that both structures are functionally obsolete. Citing similarities between the buttresses Curtis & Davis used at Carver and those they used for the Louisiana State Penitentiary cafeteria, the RSD believes that children would relate their school to a prison if the auditorium were preserved. This argument is somewhat hard to swallow, since buildings of similar eras tend to share similar elements; it is a little like insisting that schools featuring Classical Revival or Art Deco elements should be razed because of their similarities to the Criminal Courts Building in front of Orleans Parish Prison.
Rebuilding Carver is slated for the first phase of the school district’s rebuilding program, and the January 2010 RSD Capital Update states that demolition will begin December of this year. The RSD will be required to document and memorialize the historic buildings on-site, but they will be demolished nonetheless. Breathtaking in its monumentality, the auditorium is one of the most important modern structures in New Orleans.
Treme Waits for a Neighborhood School While Four Stand Vacant
Posted by: | CommentsAmidst the flurry of arguments for and against preserving Phillis Wheatley Elementary, the point remains that Tremé has been without a neighborhood school since Hurricane Katrina. Yet the Recovery School District’s (RSD) insistence that the Wheatley site offers the sole solution to this problem sidesteps the fact that it controls no less than three additional school properties within a two block radius, all of which remain vacant and deteriorating. While only one of these is a feasible alternative for renovation as a 21st century school, each building’s potential is being lost to deferred maintenance and demolition by neglect.
Mondy Junior High, originally William O. Rogers Elementary, is located at St. Philip and N. Tonti. Paul Andry designed this Romanesque Revival style school which opened to much fanfare in April 1898. Though the smallest of the three, it is in the best condition. Mondy’s size and its relatively cramped location on a square occupied by a dozen or so private homes make it undesirable for reuse as a school but a prime candidate for conversion to residential units.
The former St. Joseph’s Academy is bounded by Ursulines, N. Johnson, St. Philip, and N. Galvez. Established on this site in 1858, its five remaining buildings were constructed between 1887 and 1964. The first four, including the imposing Gothic Revival Academy Building (1904-1906) overlooking Ursulines, were commissioned by the Sisters of St. Joseph, while the last was built by the Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB) after it purchased the complex in 1960. OPSB then combined the buildings with the former Benjamin Franklin Elementary to form Andrew J. Bell Junior High. The unsecured complex has suffered five years of severe vandalism, graffiti, and theft. While there is little chance that it could be updated to suite the RSD’s current educational specifications, it would be well-suited to a combination of uses to serve the community.
Franklin Elementary, completed in 1913, stands at the corner of N. Johnson and Dumaine. It is a classic E. A. Christy design with Italianate details. This nearly 35,000 square foot building stands on a mostly open city square shared by only a handful of privately-owned properties. Though the site is, again, unsecured, which has resulted in vandalism and theft, the building’s structure is in excellent shape. If renovated, its site could fully accommodate a sizeable modern addition to house the 450-650 students and desired ancillary facilities which RSD desires.
While any new school in Treme would be subject to the district’s current school choice policy – meaning that a sizeable percentage of its students would necessarily come from outside the neighborhood – the presence of these deteriorating buildings has severe implications for nearby residents. From depressed property values, to crime, to the basic psychological effects of multiple monumentally-scaled vacant structures in such close vicinity, these buildings are doing far more harm to the neighborhood than Wheatley alone. The RSD deflects attention from this negligence by citing the burden of maintaining its 400 plus properties citywide; nonetheless, it and the OPSB, which technically owns these properties, are responsible for all of the effects their actions have upon New Orleans’ neighborhoods.
Each school is included in the Esplanade Ridge National Register District except for Wheatley, which has been deemed eligible for individual National Register listing, meaning that all would be eligible for a host of tax incentives if sold to a private entity. The OPSB, which apparently has no need for three out of four of these vacant properties, could renovate and add to Franklin and sell Mondy, St. Joseph’s, and Wheatley to be adaptively reused. Focusing solely on Wheatley, while blaming it for far more complex issues than are its due, merely wastes opportunities for further rebirth in Tremé.
Proposed Demolitions: City Council Appeals for August 26th and September 2nd
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The owners of the following properties were denied permission to demolish these properties by Historic District Landmarks Commission or the Neighborhood Conservation District Committee and have chosen to appeal (property owners reserve the right to appeal decisions of the HDLC and NCDC to the City Council).
These properties will be reviewed this Thursday, August 26th:
2535 Esplanade (Partial Demolition, HDLC Appeal) Cn. Guidry’s district
1541 Mazant (NCDC Appeal) Cn. Palmer’s district
2760-62 Conti (NCDC Appeal) Cn. Head’s district
2741 Bienville (NCDC Appeal) Cn. Head’s district
318 N. White (NCDC Appeal) Cn. Head’s district
NCDC Meeting Results: August 16, 2010
Posted by: | CommentsThough Monday’s Neighborhood Conservation District Committee agenda was unusually (and blissfully) short, all three demolitions were approved. To see the properties, click here.
Phillis Wheatley Elementary Section 106 Process Resumes
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Efforts to preserve and reuse Phillis Wheatley Elementary constitute what is arguably one of the most pressing preservation issues facing New Orleans today. Designed in 1954 by Charles Colbert, FAIA, it is a groundbreaking work of modern engineering and design. Though its cantilevered classroom wing avoided the ravages of flooding after Hurricane Katrina, the Louisiana Recovery School District (RSD) is pushing for FEMA funds to demolish the National Register-eligible building.
According to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, any such use of federal dollars to demolish or otherwise alter a building must first be subject to the Section 106 review process to determine how such actions can be mitigated through discussion with concerned parties. FEMA began Wheatley’s Section 106 review last fall and the issue erupted into a contentious fight between those for and against preservation. The RSD halted the process to commission the Hammond, LA-based firm of Holly + Smith to perform a feasibility study for the site. Its findings were made public at an RSD-hosted community meeting on July 21st, while the official consultation process resumed July 29th.
Holly + Smith considered two options for the site, total demolition and replacement with a new school building versus restoration of and addition to the historic building. The firm was not charged with formally designing either scenario, only with assessing current conditions and proposing hypothetical schematics. It found that both options were comparable in most respects, though estimated that the renovation scenario would cost an additional $900,000. The architects refrained from calculating how demolition costs would help to close that gap, but in either case, the project would cost between $20 million and $21 million. RSD officials have asserted that either scenario would be completed by 2013.
Despite these findings, detractors still maintain that Wheatley must come down. The RSD claims that it would be impossible to achieve an ideal learning environment for students using the existing building, and some echo this sentiment by insisting that the only way to achieve parity with other public schools would be to construct an entirely new building. However the district plans to renovate a diverse collection of forty-four existing school buildings, historic or otherwise. If it is possible to bring each of those to a reasonable level of programmatic equality, one is left to wonder why the rehabilitation and reuse of Wheatley is being presented as insurmountable, particularly in light of those conclusions drawn by the RSD’s own consultants.
- Interior view of stairway and corridors.
Additional arguments against preservation come from those attributing a host of educational and social ills to the building itself. Wheatley was poorly maintained for decades, and prior to Hurricane Katrina it, like most of New Orleans’ public schools, was failing. Overall mismanagement was what spurred state takeover of the city’s school system by the RSD in the first place, and these problems were endemic citywide rather than unique products of Wheatley’s design. Others claim that the building, completed the same year as the historic Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling, painfully encapsulates the era of segregation in New Orleans and therefore should be demolished to start anew. Yet the vast majority of the city’s historic school buildings, including those the RSD plans to renovate, were completed during this era. Wheatley is likely singled out because its modern design is less easily-digestible than the predominately Classical Revival style designs of its older counterparts. In either case, these arguments reveal a fair amount of selective memory on the part of those seeking demolition most ardently.
Holly + Smith’s feasibility study, which states that Phillis Wheatley Elementary is a viable resource, should be seen as a positive starting off point for creative solutions to satisfy all. New school buildings do not guarantee academic excellence, and the importance of this nationally, and perhaps internationally, significant building should not be left out of the equation. Those arguing for preservation – including the PRC, DOCOMOMO US/Louisiana, National Trust for Historic Preservation, World Monuments Fund, and citizens throughout New Orleans – believe that this historic building can indeed be incorporated into a 21st century school to benefit children for years to come.
To learn more, check out our previous post on New Orleans modernism here, and join voices with others on the Save the Phillis Wheatley School page on Facebook.
A version of this post also appears on the DOCOMOMO/US Louisiana website and in the DOCOMOMO/US e-newsletter.
Proposed Demolitions: August 16, 2010 NCDC Agenda
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Only three properties are up for demolition! Click here for the agenda.
New Orleans’ Modern Heritage
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New Orleans’ architectural community had largely embraced Modernism by the 1950s, generating highly-creative, forward-thinking works which received national attention from preeminent publications such as Progressive Architecture and Architectural Forum. Many local architects came out of Tulane’s School of Architecture either as students or educators, including Albert Ledner, Charles Colbert, and Nathaniel C. Curtis, Jr. and Arthur Q. Davis of Curtis & Davis. Other firms such as Goldstein, Parham & Labouisse had evolved from older, more traditional practices, and out of town firms such as Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill had an important presence as well.
Their buildings are increasingly reaching the standard fifty-year age mark typically necessary for consideration as “historic.” Yet modern structures are often deemed obsolete because of the assumption that they cannot be adapted to new uses, because their history is misunderstood, and because, without proper maintenance, materials such as concrete and steel tend to not weather well, making it difficult to imagine these buildings as they once were. Despite these misconceptions, appreciation for New Orleans’ modern heritage is quickly growing, though some unique challenges have come to characterize the local movement.
The history of DOCOMOMO US/Louisiana, New Orleans’ most prominent advocate for modern architecture, reflects these challenges. The group began with an August 2005 meeting to discuss the formation of a local chapter of DOCOMOMO US. Hurricane Katrina hit just one week later, and the ensuing chaos broadened the group’s course from one of increasing public awareness to the struggle to save modern landmarks from immediate demolition after the storm. The effects of flooding upon modern structures only aggravated the above arguments against their preservation, and many owners from the state to the Recovery School District have sought federal funds for their demolition and replacement. DOCOMOMO US/Louisiana became an official chapter of the national organization in February 2008, and since then, along with the PRC, has been an outspoken voice in FEMA Section 106 consultation meetings arguing for the preservation of National Register-eligible modern structures.
But while Hurricane Katrina has complicated the efforts to preserve modern buildings, public interest in their worth and potential is growing. Check back for our next post on Modernism to read more about what the PRC, DOCOMOMO US/Louisiana, and others are doing to increase support for modern preservation and, most importantly, how you can help.
2010 New Orleans Nine: Lafayette Cemetery No. 1
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Located in the heart of the Garden District, Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 is one of New Orleans’ most beloved landmarks. Unfortunately, it is also one of its most vulnerable. Established in 1833 in what was then the City of Lafayette, it was the area’s first planned cemetery, divided into quadrants by two magnolia-lined intersecting walkways. The majority of its tombs date from the 19th century, many of which were constructed prior to New Orleans’ annex of Lafayette in 1852. Ownership of the cemetery and responsibility for its grounds then transferred to the larger municipality, while individual families retained control over their tombs. And therein lies the problem.
Nearly two-hundred years later, between shrinking city budgets and a growing number of families which have either died out or left the area, the cemetery is suffering from an alarming lack of upkeep, oversight, and funding. New Orleans’ subtropical climate makes knowledgeable materials maintenance of the utmost importance, and a watchful eye is needed to prevent vandalism and theft. The 20,000 tourists who visit annually contribute to the cemetery’s overall stress.
These issues have long been recognized, and Lafayette No. 1 was named to the World Monument Fund’s International Watch List in both 1996 and 2006. The former listing led to the development of a three-phase maintenance plan for the cemetery, while the latter came with a $40,000 grant for a preservation field school program with Save Our Cemeteries (SOC) and the Preservation Training Network (PTN). Part of the International Preservation Trades Workshop held in October 2006, the program brought together master craftsmen and students to stabilize, document, and conserve the Taylor, Thomas, and Gerstner Tombs, all of which been badly damaged by winds and falling branches during Hurricane Katrina.
In 2008 Partners in Preservation, a joint venture between American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, selected Lafayette No. 1 as one of nine sites to receive grant money through its New Orleans Initiative. The program allocated $70,000 to SOC for the installation of a drainage system and repair of its wall vaults along Washington Avenue. The following summer SOC and the PTN joined with Tulane’s School of Architecture for yet another field school program to renew preservation work on the Taylor Tomb.
Despite these efforts, fundamental management problems remain. According to the city’s 2010 budget for its six municipally-owned cemeteries, its staff has dropped from seven to three since Hurricane Katrina while its budget has gone down by almost $20,000 since 2008. Lawn mowers and weed-wackers used to trim vegetation often damage tombs and do more harm than good, while the improper use of concrete to repair them speeds their decay. While crumbling tombs may seem romantic, the city’s current approach to maintenance is putting the sustainability, and very existence, of Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 in jeopardy.
Within the LSU/VA Footprint: The S. W. Green House
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Among the many impending casualties waiting for a miracle within the Mid-City footprint of the LSU/VA Hospital is the S. W. Green House at 219 S. Miro. The home, now empty, stands within two blocks of Canal Street and just one block from the Deutsche Haus on South Galvez. Commissioned by businessman and community leader Smith Wendell Green in 1928, the seventeen-room Craftsman style mansion was, according to architect Kenneth Bryant who has spent the last fifteen years researching the house, the most opulent built within New Orleans’ African American community at the time.
The son of a former slave, Smith Wendell Green made his fortune as a grocer before becoming president of Liberty Independence Insurance. His prominence led to his election as Supreme Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias of Louisiana, or the Colored Knights of Pythias, in 1908. During his twenty-seven year tenure at its helm, Green steadily grew the fraternal organization’s assets to the tune of $10,000,000, all the while pioneering the role and image of the African American businessman in an almost exclusively white-dominated field.
He spurred the construction of the Pythian Temple, an imposing seven-story office building which, though clad with a modern façade, still stands at 234 Loyola Ave. near Gravier in the CBD. Its 1909 completion was hailed as a major achievement for the African American community, and it soon became a hub of local culture. The temple’s roof garden hosted jazz greats such as Sidney Bechet and Kid Rena, and a play held there led the Tramps to found the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club.
Tulane alum Kenneth Bryant stumbled upon the S. W. Green House in the mid-1990s and has been researching the home and its builder ever since. The bulk of the above information was derived from his 2009 article “A Crucial Piece of Black History Faces the Wrecking Ball in Louisiana.” For more information on the S. W. Green house, please contact Bryant via email at kbryant@kghbarch.com.
