5200 St. Claude Ave. in Holy Cross (Before Renovation)

5200 St. Claude Ave. in Holy Cross (After Renovation)

Click here to view the complete NCDC agenda.

This modified four-bay Creole cottage, located at 5200 St. Claude Ave. in Holy Cross, is likely one of the oldest structures in the Lower 9th Ward. Creole cottages of this type were constructed primarily between 1709 and 1850. It appears on the Robinson Atlas of 1883 and in the 1908-09 Sanborne map. This structure clearly illustrates the character of the neighborhood has served the needs of the neighborhood as a long-established corner store.

The Board of Zoning Adjustments considered the redevelopment plans for the site on June 14, 2010 and the application was withdrawn without prejudice, meaning that the owner can again try to seek approval. Further, the City Council recently rejected the owner’s request for an alcoholic beverage outlet on the site. The Neighborhood Conservation District Review Committee will consider the proposed demolition on August 2, 2010. Watch this site for the results.

Click here to view the complete NCDC agenda.

Learn about two-bay Creole cottages here.

Texaco Building, 1501 Canal

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.

Commercial Building, Central City

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.

Congress is currently considering legislation that includes a provision that threatens the protection of historic places.  The provision would exempt the Trinity River Flood Control project in Dallas, Texas, from critical historic preservation review procedures – the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act.  Both NHPA and Section 4(f) have been used for decades to help important development projects move forward without harming historic places and have been instrumental in saving a wide range of places from Fort McHenry to New Orleans’ French Quarter.  This exemption from review is not just problematic for protection of historic places in the Dallas area, it sets a dangerous precedent that undermines critical preservation safeguards across the country.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Your Senator is on the Appropriations Committee that will soon be considering this legislation.   Ask them to NOT include the historic preservation exemptions currently in Chapter 4, Section 405 of HR 4899, the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2010.

]]> http://blog.prcno.org/2010/07/20/take-action-contact-your-senator-to-protect-historic-preservation-review/feed/ 0 http://blog.prcno.org/2010/07/17/holy-cross-in-the-news-st-maurice-avenue-houses-form-a-living-timeline/ http://blog.prcno.org/2010/07/17/holy-cross-in-the-news-st-maurice-avenue-houses-form-a-living-timeline/#comments Sat, 17 Jul 2010 14:06:20 +0000 MKimball http://blog.prcno.org/?p=2936

Photo by R. Stephanie Bruno via nola.com and the Times Picayune

THE NEIGHBORHOOD: Holy Cross, one of PRC’s target neighborhoods, is “bounded roughly by St. Claude Avenue on the north, the Mississippi River on the south, Jackson Barracks on the east and the Industrial Canal on the west.” The neighborhood is on the National Register of Historic Places.

READ ON – Times Picayune article by R. Stephanie Bruno – 700 block of St. Maurice Avenue

"New Orleans, downtown street"

December 1935. “New Orleans, downtown street.” North Front at Canal. Nitrate negative by Walker Evans for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

Lafayette Cemetery No. 1

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 19^th 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.

Two large live oaks along Prytania Street pose yet another threat. Though beautiful, their branches extend far over some thirty tombs which would suffer serious damage if they were to fall during a storm.

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.

City maintenance is sparse, at best.

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.

220-22 Slidell St.

DENIAL UPHELD – 220-222 Slidell Street

Brief: Skip Stander, property manager, Kern Properties LLC requesting to appeal the Historic District Landmarks Commission’s decision of “denial” of the proposal to demolish the property located at 220-222 Slidell Street.

Annotation: (Cn. Gisleson Palmer, Cn. Deadline 8/5/10). On Deadline

NEIGHBORHOOD CONSERVATION DISTRICT COMMITTEE APPEALS

1537-39 Lesseps St.

DEMOLITION APPROVED, NCDC Denial Overruled – 1537-39 Lesseps Street

Brief: Darryl S. Brister requesting to appeal the Neighborhood Conservation District Committee’s decision of “denial” of the demolition of property located at 1537-39 Lesseps Street.

Annotation: (Cn. Hedge-Morrell, Cn. Deadline 7/24/10). On Deadline.

DEMOLITION DENIED, NCDC Upheld - 1308 Flood Street

1308 Flood St.

Brief: New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) requesting to appeal the Neighborhood Conservation District Committee’s decision of “denial” of the demolition of property located at 1308 Flood Street.

Annotation: (Cn. Johnson, Cn. Deadline 7/18/10). On Deadline.

217-25 N. Broad St.

DEMOLITION DENIED, NCDC Denial Upheld - 217-25 N. Broad Street

Brief: Broad Square LLC requesting to appeal the Neighborhood Conservation District Committee’s decision of “denial” of the demolition of property located at 217-25 N. Broad Street.

Annotation: (Cn. Head, Cn. Deadline 8/2/10). On Deadline.

(Notes from City Council hearing: The applicant owns 5 properties in this block and would like to build a strip mall on the site.)

S. W. Green House, 219 S. Miro

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.

S. W. Green House, detail.

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.

2741 Bienville, Mid-City

Click here for the agenda.

To share your opinion about the demolition of any of these properties, email ejhoran@cityofno.com and jemunster@cityofno.com.