"Modular Grid Modern" - and Mid-City Historic District Expansion

Recently, Crescent Growth Capital, the entity that's redeveloping the former Lindy Boggs or Mercy Hospital site near the end of Bayou St. John, proposed an expansion of the period of significance for the Mid-City National Register Historic District.  It also proposed boundary changes.

The period of significance, key for obtaining historic tax credits, is proposed for extension to include the period of 1943-1961 - which would sweep in more Mid-Century Modern buildings, like the LSU Footprint building on Canal Street shown above.  It was pictured in Crescent Growth's Baton Rouge presentation as an example of Modular Grid Modern, one of the styles that would be eligible for the National Register under the expanded concept of the district.  The building, to my knowledge, is still set to be demolished.

The presentation also acknowledged two small reductions in the district due to new infill housing being built by Providence Community Housing, along with "a larger contraction" due to the destruction wrought by the LSU/VA project, which largely fell within the Mid-City District.

In total, the numbers of contributing historic properties in the district have dropped since the last survey years ago, falling from 3,811 structures to 3,567 structures.  In the non-contributing department, there are now 539 structures, down from 678.

The proposed change to the district also seeks to sweep in industrial buildings, such as the brick warehouse and shop buildings along the former Carondelet Canal, now the site of the proposed Lafitte Greenway.

The National Register of Historic Places will ultimately have to decide on whether or not it will accept the proposed changes.