Palmyra Street, Six Years After Katrina

To paraphrase Tacitus:

To ravage...to usurp under false titles without funds, they call progress; and where they make a desert, they call it development.

Today, instead of a functioning University Medical Center humming along in the sturdy shell of the former Charity Hospital building, there still isn't even a business plan for the UMC proposed for Lower Mid-City.  Nor is there adequate financing in place to build the first phase of the hospital.

There is, however, a largely destroyed swath of the city standing increasingly vacant between Canal, Tulane, S. Galvez, and Claiborne.

If the State of Louisiana, LSU, UMC, City of New Orleans and various federal agencies had pursued the retrofit of Charity three years ago, we could have had a state-of-the-art hospital in place today - and it would have been less expensive (the state has the money onhand to realize the Charity option at present).

Instead, there are no signs that the UMC Board has even considered the Charity option, and is instead bulling forward with the disastrous Lower Mid-City site out of embarrassment.  

Still Keeping Tabs

As of last evening, this pile of fill had appeared in the 2100 block of Palmyra in the LSU Footprint.

Otherwise, besides a patch of sidewalk near McDonogh No. 11 getting repaired after utilities of some sort were seemingly cut, little has been happening in the LSU Footprint as of late.

All Alone

The one-time home of Robert Rogers stands alone on the last remnant of Palmyra Street left intact inside the VA Hospital Footprint.

Rogers fought (and seemingly continues to fight) bitterly against the pressure to force him out - especially after he found out that the person who had occupied the other half the shotgun got more compensation than he did.

Hmmm

Last time I checked, the UMC Board's own consultant told it that it was jeopardizing it's shot at HUD financing if it continued to demolish buildings in what's known as the LSU Footprint.

Well, today, the State's contractors demolished yet another building in the LSU Footprint, a multi-story, commercial space that once stood immediately to the right of the shotgun on Palmyra pictured above.  While the building was vacant, it certainly could have been reused as a commercial space within easy walking distance of the existing LSU medical campus.

I'm not quite understanding why the State continues to allow its contractors to take actions that, from everything that's been stated publicly, hurt its chances of getting the funding necessary to actually build the hospital.

2500 Block of Palmyra Apparently Getting Closed

The 2500 and 2600 blocks of Cleveland Avenue are still not open to traffic.

Nevertheless, crews began to close off the 2500 block of Palmyra Street today, just outside of the VA Footprint, as neighbors and residents looked on.

Given all of the complaints at the VA Neighborhood meeting last Tuesday, as well as all of the complaints at the Wednesday City Council Committee Hearing, I can't believe the City didn't instruct the contractor to wait until Cleveland was open to reduce the problems and tension that continue to plague the neighborhood peripheral to the VA Hospital site.

The utility replacement that is necessitating the closures is in furtherance of the LSU/VA Hospitals project.

2 Days Ago

At long last, after witnessing her neighborhood torn down around her, after filing in federal court to stop utility cutoffs because she had a legal right to remain, Ms. Gaynell had departed, her familiar chair no longer gracing her porch on Palmyra.

On the left, Robert Rogers' place remains lighted into the night, one of just three residences that remain occupied in the VA Hospital Footprint.  Two businesses remain: Outer Banks Bar and Boudreaux's Tires.

Built in 1879 - Slated for Demolition

New Orleans and the American South had barely emerged from Reconstruction when the McDonogh No. 11 School was constructed in an Italianate style in what is now the LSU Footprint.

Designed by prominent New Orleans architect William A. Freret (who later served as "Supervising Architect of the United States"), the building benefited from the philanthropy of John McDonogh, like so many schools in the city.  It replaced the earlier Madison School, which was destroyed by fire in 1878, a year earlier.

Two firefighters died in the line of duty when a wall fell during that fire:

One of the fire department tragedies which for many reasons produced a deeper impression than others was that in which Joseph W Hartnett Second Assistant of Columbia No 5 and Michael DeLehr a member of the same company lost their lives It occurred on July 15 1878 at a fire originating in a two story frame house at No 42 South Prieur Street and extending to several other dwelling houses and to the fine Madison School building at Prieur and Palmyra Streets. Owing to a scarcity of water at the time the firemen were comparatively helpless in their attempts to extinguish the fire and they had to resort principally to the device of tearing down buildings that might furnish fuel to the flames and extend the conflagration. After the Madison School building had been seriously involved in the fire the pipe of Mississippi No 2 in the hands of No 5's men was contrary to instructions of the Chief Engineer taken up towards the Palmyra Street side of the building and Hartnett and DeLehr mounted to the landing of the stairway some fifteen feet above the ground and attempted to tear away an iron railing in order to open space for the stream of the engine While they were thus engaged the tall and already tottering frame wall surged forward and to the horror of all who were looking on fell upon the men and buried them completely from sight under the debris The ready hands of their comrades were brought at once to the rescue and succeeded in uncovering them from beneath the burning and smouldering mass and bringing them out still living but crushed burned and dying They were taken at once to the Hotel Dieu where the physicians and Sisters of Charity did all that was possible for their relief though relief came only with death which ensued within a short time

Here is the link to the full story.  To this day, a stone memorial tablet graces the transom above one of the entrances on Palmyra Street.  It was dedicated in a formal ceremony as the present school building rose from the ashes of its predecessor.

Here's what the building looked like in the 1890s:

The building shows up on the Robinson Atlas of 1883, which depicts things as they were a few years prior at the very end of the 1870s:

Here's a shot of the graduating class of 1924.

Today, the school building continues to educate over 200 students who attend the Priestley Charter School.

Unfortunately, the exceptional building is slated for demolition to make way for the UMC hospital.  And the school children will be forced to move out over the coming holiday break in the middle of the school year.

Demolitions are ongoing in the block surrounding McDonogh No. 11.  The scene below shows machinery just one house away from the school:

I should also note that I am indebted to a kind friend for leads on many of these historical tidbits.

Abiding

As of today, four houses remain on Palmyra Street in the VA Hospital Footprint.

Jazz Funeral Slated for VA Footprint Tomorrow Evening

The Committee to Re-Open Charity, according to its recent handout, is hosting a jazz funeral at 10 p.m. in the VA Footprint tomorrow evening, December 11, at 10 p.m. as part of Outer Banks Bar's !BLOWOUT!

Music will be provided by Egg Yolk Jubilee.  The route ostensibly includes a march down Palmyra through the emptiness to S. Galvez and back.

Outer Banks Bar is at 2401 Palmyra Street.

I'd recommend that the band stick to dirges only.

Demolition Steam Rolls On in LSU Footprint

Demolition of movable historic homes continued today in the LSU Footprint.

The first three houses shown here - after salvage was well underway - are completely gone now, along with a fourth building just out of the shot at left.  Another streetscape lost.

LSU, the State of Louisiana, and the University Medical Center Board - which includes representatives from a number of institutions, such as Tulane - still do not have adequate funds to finance the construction of the proposed hospital.

A Few More Gone on Palmyra

This photo is from a few days ago.  Now, the gray house on the end, a former camelback, has been moved.  So has the little white shotgun second from the right.

The house second from the left (with white pediment) remains and the green house does too - still occupied.

Death of a Neighborhood: Compare and Contrast the VA Hospital Footprint

Palmyra Street, before.

Palmyra Street, today.

S. Tonti Street, before.

S. Tonti, today.

Lower on Banks, before.

Lower on Banks, today.

Lake-side boundary of VA Footprint at S. Rocheblave, before.

Lakeside boundary of VA Footprint at S. Rocheblave, today.

Upper on Banks, before.

Upper Banks, today.

S. Galvez, before.

S. Galvez, today.

S. Tonti row, before.

S. Tonti row, today (the street itself is gone).

Upper Cleveland Avenue, before.

Upper Cleveland Avenue, today.

S. Miro, before.

S. Miro, the other day at dusk.

Another Louisiana Hayride

Yesterday, a trailer full of straw bales arrived in the VA Footprint.  According to crews, they're being used to prevent silt from clogging the sewers.

Show Me the Money: Crews Move Into LSU Footprint Homes

The contractor crews, LSU, the State of Louisiana, and whomever else reads this blog probably know what I'm going to say since crews began dismantling two homes on Palmyra in the LSU Footprint today.

Before you destroy historic buildings, show me the money.

Specifically, prove that you have actual, adequate financing lined up to build the proposed University Medical Center (UMC).  I'm not talking about the money to acquire lots, expropriate lots, or do salvage or demolition.  I'm talking about the full amount of financing required to carry out the end goal that's necessitating all those things.

From everything I know, and despite any attempts by state officials or the UMC Corporation Board to put a nice veneer on preliminary outreach to HUD for backing, the money is not in place.  There's still a shortfall of several hundred million dollars to address.

There is also no house moving plan in place on the LSU Footprint side, despite the successful example on the VA Footprint side.

Together, the lack of funding and the lack of a house moving alternative make any steps forward in dismantling houses on the LSU Footprint site inexcusable and irresponsible.

Until today, the recent resurgence of activity in the LSU Footprint was confined to clearing vacant lots.  But today that changed.  Now it's structures that contribute to a National Register Historic District.  And it's unfortunate.

I don't have a personal fortune to shove into the breach.  I'm not in a high level policy-making decision.  But I can see that this is wrong.  And I'm not going to stop pointing that out.

Good to See

I'm not saying it's because of the post I made over a week ago pointing out the potential hazard posed by the open state-owned properties on Palmyra near Priestly Charter School.

But some party, presumably the contractors working for the state/LSU, had boarded up the open properties by yesterday afternoon.  It's a positive step.  Now, to clip the weeds...

Several families still live in the white double shotgun with blue trim off at the end of the row.

Cutting Ties

Cox representatives cut wires to a variety of houses in the VA Footprint.  From what I could tell from my limited observation, all of the lines cut went to now-vacant houses.

Cox, to its credit, did put out a door-knocker some weeks ago noting that work would be occurring.

Below, the wire is cut at the camelback home of Mr. Barry, a soft-spoken and friendly man who left the neighborhood just days ago for a home farther up Palmyra in Mid-City.

Just Dust

Busy

Down on Palmyra Street, a crew removes the roof of a shotgun house in the background.

At center, documentary videomaker Alex Glustrom crosses the street as a crew from Channel 4 News walks up to the home of Ms. Gaynell, seen on her porch.

Across the street, the Krause family continues the move out process.  They hope to close on a new home today.

The End of the Frenchman Inn

[Click to Enlarge]

"Crews are swarming around the next two houses"

At Nola.com, R. Stephanie Bruno peruses the diverse architecture of the homes on one block of Palmyra Street...that's on the brink.