Dew Drop Inn, 2836 La Salle Street

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.

Dew Drop Inn circa 1960.

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.

Photograph of sign from 2008.

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!).

2741 Bienville in Mid City - A modified single shotgun house

The owners of the following properties were denied permission to demolish these properties by the Neighborhood Conservation District Committee and have chosen to appeal (property owners reserve the right to appeal decisions of the NCDC to the City Council).

These properties will be reviewed this Thursday, September 2nd:

1541 Mazant (NCDC Appeal, on deadline) 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

Carver Junior-Senior High, 3059 Higgins Blvd

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.

Carver Auditorium, Buttresses

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.

Carver School, Cafeteria Building

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.

Carver Auditorium, Interior

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.

George O. Mondy School, 2327 St. Philip

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.

St. Joseph's Academy (Bell School), Ursulines at N. Johnson

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.

Benjamin Franklin Elementary (Bell Junior High), N. Johnson and Dumaine

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.

New Orleans' African-American leaders chalked up another victory when the much lobbied for Booker T. Washington High School, with its emphasis upon vocational training, opened in 1942. But it took federal funds to make it happen.

Meeting to discuss Booker T. Washington School Building
Thursday, August 26, 2010
6:30 PM
Sylvanie F. Williams School Cafeteria
3127 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

The opening of Booker T. (as it is affectionately known) in September 1942 was a cause for great rejoicing in New Orleans’ large African-American population. After all, in 1900 the New Orleans School Board had voted to limit black education to the first five grades. Now a splendid new high school was opening that rivaled any white school—not a hand-me-down school but a state-of-the-art facility built specifically for black secondary education—a first in the city.

How had it all happened? Through decades of sustained activism from black leaders and bailout from the federal government.

Lacking political power, black leaders worked through civic, religious and educational organizations to press their concerns before the school board, being first with the total lack of public education beyond the fifth grade, as mandated by school board policy in 1900. The sixth was restored in 1909, the seventh in 1913, and the eighth in 1914. With these milestones under their belts, black leaders began the campaign for a high school. The much sought after school opened in 1917 as McDonogh No. 35 in a recycled former school for whites.

The next item on the activist agenda was a sorely needed vocational school. But where to find the money? The Rosenwald Fund had expressed an interest but only if the school board shared the cost. In 1930 the school board sold bonds for school construction and allocated $275,000 toward construction of a black trade school. The Rosenwald Fund pledged $135,000.

In response to concerns that a black trade school might threaten white jobs, a public statement was issued, assuring everyone “that the trades to be taught at the school would be exclusively those which are largely occupied by colored labor at this time.”

But it would still be another dozen years before Booker T. became a reality. After purchasing a parcel of land for the purpose, the school board announced that it did not have the money to match the Rosenwald offer. Instead, in 1934 they built on the site a wood frame elementary school for blacks for $21,000.

Although disheartened by this broken promise, black leaders continued to champion their goal through the 1930s. But it was federal, not local funds, which made Booker T. possible.

Booker T. Washington's cavernous auditorium was used for much more than school functions. It became in effect the city's black municipal auditorium, housing legendary entertainers like Louis Armstrong, labor rallies, conventions and the like.

In the twilight of its existence, the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration funded the project to the tune of some quarter of a million dollars. Like other similar schools across the South, it was named for booker T. Washington, the famous black educator whose name is synonymous with what was called at the time “industrial education.”

But the opening of Booker T. gave the African-American community much more than a new high school. Accompanying the school (and attached to it) was a huge auditorium that became in effect the city’s black municipal auditorium. In the age of segregation, the roughly 2,000 capacity auditorium was indeed “separate but equal.” Soon after its opening, the facility hosted Paul Robeson in his first New Orleans appearance. The Louisiana Weekly reported that blacks turned out “en masse” to hear Robeson, although with “a fair sprinkling whites.” There were seven encores, and the audience was “almost shaking the roof with its thunderous applause.”

Other greats who graced the stage include Marian Anderson, Dizzie Gillespie, Mahalia Jackson and Louis Armstrong.

Booker T’s immense importance made it a natural for the National Register of Historic Places. The project was undertaken by the Division of Historic Preservation at the request of Booker T. teacher Mark Wuirk. The black leaders who pushed so hard for its construction would have been thrilled at the delegation of Booker T. graduates who attended the public hearing in Baton Rouge. In testimony after testimony folks spoke passionately about all Booker T. had given to them—from discipline to Bach, and everything in between. On Saturday, September 7, 2002, they celebrated the 60^th anniversary of the school and the listing with a historic marker dedication at1201 S. Roman Street.

Written by PRC board member Donna Fricker for Preservation in Print, September 2002

According to the Historic District Landmarks Commission staff, Walgreens will not appeal the HDLC Architectural Review Committee’s denial of the request to replace the iconic neon sign with LED lights. Thanks to everyone that posted opinions about this proposal to Facebook, Flickr and Twitter — you opinions were critical in the decision to retain the neon lights!

Thanks to all of our Flickr friends that contributed to the “NOLA in Neon” photo collection.

Renovators’ Happy Hour Goes to Lafayette Square
Thursday, August 26, 5:30 p.m., at 634 Julia St.

Operation Comeback Workshops: “Preserving Green”
Friday, August 27, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at 5200 Dauphine St.
Learn about timely preservation and construction issues by attending these workshops presented by the Preserving Green arm of the PRC’s Operation Comeback program.

Rebuilding Together’s Fifty for Five Block Party
Saturday, August 28, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Lafayette Square
Join the PRC and Rebuilding Together to commemorate how far New Orleans has come since Katrina! Featuring vendors, community leaders, and musical greats such as Germaine Bazzle, Tremé Brass Band, and The World Classic Rockers.

Holy Cross Block Party
Saturday, August 28, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., 500 block of Caffin Avenue
Join the PRC and friends as we celebrate the revitalization of the Holy Cross Historic District and the publication of One Block: A New Orleans Neighborhood Rebuilds.

First-Time Homebuyer Training – September
Monday, September 20, at the PRC

Click here for the full PRC Event Calendar

Get a glimpse of the ongoing renovations of the last four buildings in the 600 block of Julia Street, also known as “Julia Row” or the “Thirteen Sisters”. These remarkable American Townhouses date back to 1833.

Thursday, August 26, 2010
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
634 Julia Street

For more information, contact Suzanne at 504.636.3399 or sblaum@prcno.org

Friday, August 27, 2010
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Free and open to the public.
At the future home of the neighborhood center!
5200 Dauphine St. (at the corner of Lizardi St.)
(in Holy Cross)
Click here for directions.

This slate of one-hour educational workshops by distinguished professionals in green reconstruction will highlight the reuse of historic building materials and their integration into the neighborhood center built by Operation Comeback at 5200 Dauphine Street.

For more information, contact Pam Bryan, Director of Operation Comeback, at 504.636.3044 or pbryan@prcno.org.

Rebuilding Together’s Fifty for Five Block Party
Saturday, August 28, 2010
2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Free and open to the public.

At Lafayette Square
500 Saint Charles Ave.
New Orleans, LA 70130

Join the PRC and Rebuilding Together to commemorate how far New Orleans has come since Katrina! This public block party will come at the end of Rebuilding Together’s massive Fifty for Five rebuild in honor of the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. See below for more information about Rebuilding Together and Fifty for Five.

For more information on Rebuilding Together New Orleans, visit www.prcno.org.

For more information about Fifty for Five, contact Shannon Jones at 504.636.3397 or sjones@prcno.org.

Join the PRC and friends as we celebrate the revitalization of the Holy Cross Historic District and the publication of One Block: A New Orleans Neighborhood Rebuilds

Saturday, August 28, 2010
4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Free and open to the public.

500 block of Caffin Avenue between Chartres and Douglas Streets

Enjoy levee breezes, neighborhood conviviality, food, and music from Little Freddie King and the Rebirth Brass Band in the heart of Holy Cross Historic District, the neighborhood in which Preservation Resource Center has dedicated over $1 million to renovate historic homes flooded by Hurricane Katrina.

For more information, contact Maryann Miller at 504.312.9202 or mmiller@prcno.org.

1541-43 Mazant, Bunny Friend

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

2760 Conti St. in Mid City

The owners of the following properties were denied permission to demolish these properties by Historic District Landmarks Commission or the Neighborhood Conservation District Committee. They have chosen to appeal and the hearing date has been set for August 26, 2010. (Property owners reserve the right to appeal decisions of the HDLC and NCDC to the City Council.)