A real loss in the UMC Footprint

Here's what 2101-03 Palmyra in the LSU (UMC) Footprint looked like until a few days ago.

Note the deep overhanging eave on the south side of the shotgun building:

This creole-inspired building likely dates to before 1880 given a number of architectural details, including the deep south eave, old-style brackets, and the roof lines, visible below.  The front portion of the hipped roof is distinct from the portion in the back.  It's also a corner building, so the cypress drop siding runs along not just the front facade on Palmyra, but also along the entire side elevation along S. Johnson Street.

From what I recall, Mr. Carl lived here back when the VA site was being cleared, as did an old lady who would sometimes clear weeds along the back fence, all the way up to a point several months ago.

Here's a view of the parcel from the Notarial Archives website. It is part of plate 5 of the Robinson Atlas.  Although copyrighted in 1883, it is based on the Braun survey of the late 1870s:

Note that the map shows a building with two distinct roof sections (denoted with blue arrow), indicating that the same structure was standing at that time.

A Happy Story

While there's a bittersweet undertone, of course, it was good to run into some of the positive results of the architectural salvage that was mandated for the LSU/VA site preparation.

Pushed for by preservationists and required by the Programmatic Agreement (PA) that came out of Section 106 consultations, salvage of certain architectural elements led to a massive output of salvaged items at Habitat for Humanity's Marigny Re-Store, as I've documented here on the blog.

Last week, however, I was making my rounds in the Lower Garden District, only to learn that several of the historic renovation projects I was touring...used doors and windows, almost exclusively, that had been salvaged from properties in the LSU/VA Footprint.

I've shared photos of two such properties here.  Again, while it's unfortunate that a neighborhood was lost, it is good to see that some elements survived what otherwise would have been outright demolition for reuse in other buildings that are being brought back online from decades of sitting in a blighted condition.

Asinine, Deceptive, and Wrong: LSU, UMC, State Continue to Destroy New Orleans Heritage

I've witnessed many things inside the Footprint, many of them rather depressing.  But today marked the first time I felt I was actually going to throw up.  The sheer accumulated enormity of the waste, the destruction, the displacement, and the general contempt for people and the city's architectural heritage hit me all at once as I heard once again the groaning sounds that an old house makes as it's wrenched apart.  It literally made me sick.

As part of the demolition rampage that launched on Monday, crews destroyed another movable house today in the LSU Footprint in Lower Mid-City at 1921-23 Palmyra Street - without even salvaging basic architectural elements like quoins and window frames, as the photo above clearly shows.  Someone on site mentioned worker health concerns, but I don't think that's the real reason.  I think it's wanton indifference and a desire for speed.

It's the seventh building to be demolished in the LSU Footprint by my count.  And that's in spite of the fact that the University Medical Center that is proposed for the site...still does not have adequate financing to build the proposed hospital.

Additionally, the City of New Orleans has not revoked the streets in the neighborhood where people continue to live.  The failure of the Mayor and City Council to take actions to protect New Orleans residents and historic architectural street fabric continues to baffle me.

The demolitions also continue despite state officials' assertions that they just can't wait to move houses:

"State officials, meanwhile, are clamoring for the $3.2 million program's conclusion so they can use any leftover money to move historic houses from the adjacent footprint slated for the successor to the Charity Hospital. Andy Kopplin, Landrieu's chief administrative officer, said the city, after several weeks of requests from the state, has agreed that the remaining balance will pay to move houses from the University Medical Center site."

Clamoring?  More like Jerry Jones bluffing - and blowing smoke.  If the state officials actually wanted to move houses, they wouldn't be demolishing movable houses.  I'm calling that bluff.  The photos of what the State's contractors have done this week call that bluff.

Also, the State says it wants the balance of the funds - but will there even be any money leftover now that more houses are being moved off the VA Hospital Footprint than envisioned in October?

* * * * *

Here's a photo of the house from before:

As with a number of houses in the LSU Footprint, it was not in absolutely perfect shape.  The neighborhood did experience the floodwaters of Katrina after all.  But the house appeared quite structurally sound, it retained many of its historic architectural attributes (fishscale shingles, original doors, quoins, transoms, drop siding, brackets, apron overhang, fleur de lis verge board), it was a contributing property in the Mid-City National Register Historic District, and it could have been moved off site for rehabilitation elsewhere like the homes in the VA Footprint.  It was not yet dead by any means, especially by New Orleans standards.

Instead, the city lost a potential piece of the tax-base today.  It lost a part of its streetscape.  It lost a potential home for a developer or family to rehabilitate.  It lost another little part of itself - a part of the incomparable tout ensemble.

Look Familiar? Where the Salvaged Items End Up

These items might seem vaguely familiar.  That's because many of them were salvaged from properties that have been demolished in the VA Footprint. 

Under the Programmatic Agreement for the hospitals project, Habitat for Humanity's ReStore down in the Marigny has received many of the salvaged architectural elements for re-sale.  Salvage has been a positive aspect of the process, but it still must be viewed within the larger context of the neighborhood being dismantled - it's better than destruction, but it's inadequate consolation in the grand scheme of things.

Several recognizable items, like a bracket from 317 S. Tonti and ornate yellow trim from 319 S. Tonti, are for sale.  So is the board full of ornate, decorative quoins from 319 S. Tonti.  The store also has plenty of doorframes, mantelpieces, etc. from the Footprint.

"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.

Watching Like a Hawk

Take a look.  Here's a shot of 323 S. Tonti Street today.  Note the number of colonnettes holding up the porch roof.







Now - look at this photo of the same property from just about a week ago.

"Apparently, the salvage company is starting selective recoupment next week..."

That's what I've heard.

I'm very curious as to how the salvage company will proceed as it attempts to procure historic elements from structures inside the VA footprint.  People continue to live in the homes in that footprint.