A major restoration of the 1934 Art Deco airport is underway and expected to be completed in mid 2012.

The structure was encased in cement and converted to a fall-out shelter in the 1960s, and post-Katrina historic preservation funds for historic preservation have made possible a restoration to its 1934 condition. The exterior work is largely completed, which included the reconstruction of sculptures and relief panels, and the interior renovation is set to begin in August. The central atrium, its height cut in half with a low ceiling in the 60s, will be returned to its original condition. Many of the original details, such as doors, murals, and handrails, were protected and will be returned to the building. Also restored will be the once regal Walnut Room, an entertainment venue and dining room.

CLICK HERE to read the Times-Picayune article on the restoration, and HERE to see architect Alton Ochsner Davis give a tour of the interior. Click HERE to see our 2008 photos of the airport.

Check out our previous post about Carver school here.

Thanks to our friends at DOCOMOMO_LA for alerting us of this recent development.

Notice of INTENT

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center Disposition

Site-Specific Environmental Assessment Scoping

———–

VA is currently considering three potential alternatives with respect to future disposition of the existing VAMC property and facilities:

This action is being undertaken in conjunction with the ongoing National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance efforts surrounding the development of the replacement Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hereby announces initiation of the Site-Specific Environmental Assessment process (SEA) for disposition of all VA properties and facilities located at 1601 Perdido Street.

This announcement marks the beginning of a 30-day comment period on project scoping for the Disposition Site-Specific Environmental Assessment.  A public meeting will be held upon publication of the draft SEA.  Information regarding the project background and proposed alternatives is available on the project website at http://valsumedcenters.com.  In addition, copies of the scoping information are also available by contacting AECOM Environmental at public.comments@aecom.com.

Public participation is an important part of the NEPA compliance process.  VA is providing veterans, general public, local businesses, associations, stakeholders, affected governmental agencies and other interested parties the opportunity to participate in public scoping regarding the proposed disposition actions.  After the conclusion of the public comment period, VA will consider all comments received and incorporate relevant, significant comments during the SEA development process.  Upon completion, a draft SEA will be released for public comment; a public meeting would be held at that time.

All public comments regarding the scoping process are due no later than October 11, 2010 .  Scoping comments need to be submitted in writing, by e-mail, or transmitted verbally via regular mail, email, phone, or in person at:

AECOM Environmental — Attn: Carol Freeman — 1555 Poydras St., Suite 1860 — New Orleans, LA 70112 — 504-343-8037 – public.comments@aecom.com

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.

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.

Though postwar structures built using modern materials and mechanical systems present unique preservation and reuse challenges, architects, scholars, and advocates nationwide are actively working to expand the body of knowledge concerning their conservation while promoting their significance. The United States branch of the international group DOCOMOMO was established in 1995, followed by the foundation of the Recent Past Preservation Network in 2000. These national organizations are only in addition to the countless community-based groups working to save local modern landmarks throughout the country.

Last year the National Trust launched its own Modernism + The Recent Past initiative, aimed at lobbying for greater protection of modern architecture, supporting grassroots advocacy efforts nationwide, and establishing a system of best practices in this new preservation frontier. Regarding the latter, the Philip Johnson Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut, owned by the National Trust since 1986, will become a center for the study of modern architecture and materials conservation. The 2009 National Trust Conference in Nashville reflected the growing interest in this field and featured several sessions dealing with the topic. These ranged from talks disseminating proven advocacy strategies, to lectures dealing with the technical side of modern preservation, to discussions about how the unique circumstances of modern buildings call for a reevaluation of some long-accepted preservation practices.

As modern buildings approach the fifty-year age threshold for listing on the National Register they are increasingly eligible for federal and state historic tax credits, the importance of which cannot be overestimated when considering how these buildings might be successfully restored and adapted to current uses. Post-war structures, just like their pre-war counterparts, can and should be rehabilitated into viable homes, institutions, and businesses to aid revitalization and growth in communities nationwide. To ignore such a major part of our county’s architectural history, and the potential it holds for the future, would be a terrible, short-sighted waste.

Though primarily known for its 18^th, 19^th, and early 20^th century architecture, New Orleans is blessed with an incredible stock of modern buildings for a city of its age. Many of these were still in use prior to Hurricane Katrina but have since been abandoned, though an increasing number of local advocates are arguing for their preservation and reuse. Check back for more posts on our city’s modern heritage and what can be done to preserve it for generations to come!

Patty Gay, PRC’s Executive Director, has just returned from the National Trust Big Cities meeting in Los Angeles, California, where the Los Angeles Conservancy is winding up a nine-month celebration of 60′s architecture.

The Conservancy has blazed the trail for advocating for mid-century Modern resources for twenty-five years. Slowly but surely, other preservation communities throughout the country are following suit. However, PRC, like The Conservancy, has learned that it is a struggle to get policymakers and the general public to understand the significance of resources that are younger than they are, or those built in an unfamiliar architectural style.

Love Modern or not, we contend that the greenest building is the one that is already built and that these structures are part of the ongoing story of New Orleans’ architectural heritage. The Historic District Landmarks Commission has recently designated several mid-century Modern structures as local landmarks. This is an exciting trend we expect will continue and for which PRC will advocate.

Learn more about “the Sixties turn 50″ celebration on the Los Angeles Conservancy’s website. Let us know about your favorite modern buildings and stay tuned as we will continue to post about the gems of the Modern era.

The former service station at 1429 S. Jefferson Davis Parkway  is a classic example of the Streamline Moderne style. This style emerged with new technological advances in building construction in the 1930′s. Some characteristics of this style are rounded edges, glass block windows and walls, smooth plaster finish, and a horizontal roof line. It sits adjacent to the Blue Plate building, which is also designed in the Streamline Moderne style and will be restored using Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credits.

The service station is a rare style in New Orleans and compliments the Blue Plate Building. When Blue Plate is restored and the area begins to see the revitalization and investment that typically occurs with larger-scale restoration projects, the station could be adaptively reused.

For more information on this service station and the modern movement in Louisiana please visit Regional Modernism’s blog. Click here to see additional photographs of this building.

The Post-War Cottage appeared during and after World War II (late 1930s – 1940s) when America was experiencing a severe housing shortage. The demand for simple, inexpensive housing that could be built quickly and efficiently grew as thousands of soldiers came back from the war front and started families of their own. The availability of this new affordable housing eased an unprecedented number of young American families into homeownership and autonomy.

Many Post-War Cottages were pre-fabricated and could be purchased from catalogues. They developed alongside suburban Ranch style homes, and both share a characteristic square or rectangular shape that was easy to construct and replicate. The roof of a Post-War Cottage can be either gabled or hipped, but it typically has a steeper pitch and more variable roof line than the horizontal low-pitched roof of a Ranch style home. In fact, many of the Post-War Cottages found in neighborhoods such as Gentilly, Gentilly Terrace, and Bunny Friend have a steeply pitched gable above the door or porch.

Post-War Cottages are often short on architectural details. This is due to the era in which they were built. During World War II, wood was being conserved for the war effort. As a result, the cottages contain little adornment and do not typically have eaves. They may have a small circular or octagonal window in the front of the house which provides some interest.

Four Post-War cottages in the Gentilly Terrace neighborhood (pictured below) have been proposed for demolition by the Louisiana Land Trust. The homes appear on the Neighborhood Conservation Districts Committee agenda for February 22, 2010. The Preservation Resource Center supports the efforts of the Gentilly Terrace Neighborhood Organization to urge the Louisiana Land Trust to locate buyers who will renovate the properties rather than tear them down and sell the empty lots. Retention of Post-War Cottages in Gentilly Terrace, as well as in other neighborhoods that experienced this type of infill housing during the Post-War period, is vital to the character of these neighborhoods.

Visit our Flickr page to view photographs of more Post-War Cottages and to view other properties proposed for demolition in the Gentilly Terrace area.

Originally posted by regional.modernism.