Next?

The board had been taken off the door at this camelback at 1932-34 Cleveland Avenue in the LSU Footprint as of this morning...right next door to the sister house that was demolished yesterday...

Driven Out - the final resident has departed the LSU/VA Footprint

Last week Wednesday, I noticed that Humble Rumble was gone.  His home on S. Roman Street in the LSU Footprint, now boarded and absent its characteristic American flag and plants, consisted of a living space on one side of the building and a small studio on the other side.

A U.S. military veteran who rode out Katrina in his home, Humble Rumble was one of the first residents that I met while venturing inside the Footprint.  I would later see him at various stages in the elimination of the neighborhood - out on his porch, riding his bike, talking to tourists passing through, standing with the group in support of saving McDonogh No. 11, and at City Hall (where he spoke and sought just compensation for being displaced).

From what I can tell - and I've given it a week to sink in, in case I missed someone - Humble Rumble was the last resident of the LSU Footprint to go.

And, as the last resident of the LSU Footprint, he was the last remaining resident of the entire 67-acre LSU/VA footprint.  Federal, state, and local government has worked in concert to destroy a neighborhood that was trying to recover from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

All told, based on assessments done in 2008, over 600 people have been displaced by the project, 287 of them in the LSU Footprint alone, along with over 50 small businesses.

I, for one, will not forget.

McDonogh Boarded

As of last Wednesday, a number of of window and door openings on the vacant McDonogh No. 11 School building in the UMC Footprint had been boarded.  It's not clear to me whether the effort was preventive or in response to something.

The school's fate is back in limbo at present.  The state now need only use "best efforts" to move the school out of harm's way.

Still Standing

[click photo to enlarge]

Here's a shot to contrast with the WWLTV statement from Friday's spot:

""The land is cleared for the new University Medical Center in Mid-City"

The three camelbacks pictured, all along Cleveland Avenue in the LSU Footprint, are still standing. And they were all occupied until recent months. They're still looking good despite four years of planner's blight caused by the designation of the footprint.

The double shotgun in the foreground at left was also occupied until only a few weeks ago.  It stands as well, along with dozens of historic buildings in the proposed site of the UMC.

Now Boarding

Lately, more and more houses are getting boarded in the LSU Footprint - houses that were occupied when I started walking the footprint (and were still lived in until recently).

As of late, I've been hearing that approximately 15 houses may still get moved off the site by official parties.  The number keeps falling, but moving any historic houses off the site would still be a positive.

Any private parties should get in touch to inquire about working with the demolition and site preparation contractors to remove additional houses.

Zoom Out

Window out. As of yesterday afternoon.

By late this morning, the front windows had been boarded.  That's good.  Houses like this 3-bay shotgun that remain in the LSU Footprint now stand a chance of being moved.

Secured

The house moved from the VA Hospital Footprint that caused a neighbor to complain two days ago appeared secured and boarded as of this afternoon.  The home, once a camelback in the 2300 block of Palmyra Street, now stands on N. Villere Street in the 7th Ward between Annette and St. Anthony.

Boarding in the 7th Ward

This morning, as I stopped by in the 7th Ward to see which buildings the Mayor's blight initiative was demolishing, I happened upon a number of Americorps folks with Rebuilding Together.  They were dropping off sheets of plywood at a recently moved VA Footprint house (formerly on Cleveland Avenue) that now sits at Pauger and N. Derbigny (and was largely boarded up).

This further confirms the fact that various parties are taking greater steps to secure the moved houses.

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.

Boarding Up and Moving Out

The VA footprint grows a bit more grim.

Boarded Up

Newly, as of today.