30 Pallets of Bricks

Brick Man and friends have been busy in the VA Hospital Footprint, as evidenced by the salvaged bricks lined up on S. Galvez earlier today.

Following the Bricks

Today, I encountered a large flatbed semi on S. Galvez loading over a dozen pallets of cleaned bricks.

Brick Man, it appears, now has a handful of people assisting him in recovering and cleaning bricks left on the VA Hospital site.

The driver of the truck noted that the bricks are headed to a buyer in Shreveport.

Back

I've been away at a conference for work over the past few days, and I knew things would be different when I returned.

Rolling through the VA Footprint this evening, it's clear that several structures have been demolished, and a number of homes have been moved - including the two "original VA house moves" where the original owners will retain the homes during and after the moves.  In the triangle between Banks and Tulane, the building that housed Lee's restaurant until recently is gone.

Not everything was different, though.  The neon was still glowing purple and green at Outer Banks bar, which now stands alone in the dark.  Ms. Gaynell still sat out on her porch.  And Brick Man was still shuffling amidst his piles of bricks in front of the S.W. Green mansion under the streetlight.

Both my good camera and my old camera were out of battery as I returned from the trip, so I used PhotoBooth and shot directly with my laptop camera:

Echoes of S.W. Green: Brick Man

"Brick Man," as I've come to know him, is now one of the fixtures of the VA Footprint site.  He cleans bricks from foundation piers that are left as refuse when crews demolish or move houses, as seen here in front of the S.W. Green Mansion, once home to one of the most prominent and enterprising African American men in the city.

While it's difficult to tell just how strictly the Architectural Salvage Agreement is being enforced (Habit's ReStore is supposed to be the exclusive recipient of "all" salvaged items from the VA and UMC sites - so long as the house is designated as historical by the PA's list and removal of the items would not endanger worker health), it's clear that refuse bricks left when the excavators withdraw are not covered in the list of salvage elements covered by the PA:

• Doors;
• Wood front façade windows (including dormer windows)
• Brackets;
• Mantels;
• Foundation vents;
• Turned and/or solid wood columns;
• Louvered wood shutters, including appropriate hardware; and
• Decorative “gingerbread” trim, including quoins

Thus, Brick Man's entrepreneurial efforts are recovering value from the site that would otherwise be lost.