McDonogh No. 11 - Relocation Update

Here's what I know.

Recently, the bids were opened in response to the RFP issued by the state for relocation of the McDonogh No. 11 School out of the LSU (UMC) Footprint.  Only two companies bid on the project.

One company, Patterson Shoring, bid approximately $1.4 million.  The other company, Orleans Shoring, the winning bidder, bid approximately $300,000.

You may recall Orleans Shoring as one of the key contractors involved in the VA house moving effort (and the possible UMC house moving effort as well).

The chasm between the bid amounts seems a bit stunning, as does the low number of bids.

In the end, my chief concern is for the continued integrity of the structure as the move proceeds.  Patterson appears to have significant experience with moving large, masonry structures.  Orleans was involved in the successful moving of the S.W. Green Mansion, but that's about the only somewhat analogous example I can find.

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.

OPSB Files Suit Against State re: McDonogh No. 11

Here, per the Times-Picayune.

And WWLTV, the source cited by the Times-Pic:

“We do not know if it is possible to move McDonough No. 11, and, if not, we hope the State will incorporate the building into the new hospital as we have long suggested.” Moran said.

Regular readers of this blog knew almost a month and a half ago that OPSB was mounting a legal challenge to the state's compensation for McDonogh No. 11.

Inside McDonogh No. 11 School

A group of us visited the inside of the building with permission from the Orleans Parish School Board, the building's current owner.  Charity Hospital's central massif is visible from one of the arched windows of the 1879 building.  The school  building is still slated for demolition, although a groundswell of public support is underway.  In the foreground, the vacant lots left from the demolition of four historic buildings stretch out along Palmyra Street in the LSU Footprint.

A globe, split down the equator, sits alone amidst the shiny wooden floors of a well-lighted classroom on the third floor of McDonogh No. 11.  The school was abandoned in December 2010 when students were forced to relocate to modular units out on Almonaster Avenue.  The building, despite its age, is structurally sound. 

Until today, I did not know that the building has multiple skylights that light the upper portions of the large interior stairwells.

The ground floor, a sort of raised basement space, was naturally cool even on this warm afternoon.  One room in the rear had an eerie red cast to it - a "bordello" feel as one member of the group quipped.  Remnants from the building's earlier use as a school were strewn here and there.

Backed by cast-iron piers, a series of original dividers also split some of the groundfloor spaces, but permitted expansion as needed.

Various snippets of student ephemera could still be seen on the boards - like the words above (the medical reference comes from the fact that prior to Katrina, McDonogh No. 11 served as the New Orleans Center for Health Careers).

Behind the building, adjoining the schoolyard, the old infirmary stood empty.

The visit only reinforced what I've believe all along - McDonogh No. 11 is worth saving.  It can and should be incoporated into the proposed UMC hospital complex.  The site consists of 37 acres - surely there's a way to work it in.

Work Resumes on Moved Houses on Bienville

As of yesterday afternoon, work appeared to have resumed on the moved VA Footprint houses that now reside in the "Bienville Cluster" around Bienville and S. Derbigny near Two Sisters Restaurant.  It's my understanding that the lots are owned by Providence Community Housing, an arm of Catholic Charities in New Orleans.

Today, crews from LA's Best were at work again on a number of the houses, which were among the earliest moved off the VA site.  A worker told me the buildings are being cleaned out inside and the roofs, already partially restored on the buildings months ago, are being shingled and completed.

Here's a closer look at the subcontractor signage that appeared on all of the houses in the cluster (zoom in for more details):

The clustered buildings sit on what once was a school site.  The old base of a former flagpole still marks the spot:

Update on McDonogh No. 11 School

Strangely, a Times-Picayune story this Saturday made no mention of any provisions regarding McDonogh No. 11 in a written agreement formalized recently between the City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana about design changes in the LSU Footprint.

Today, however, we received word that six out of seven city council member here in New Orleans have signed onto two letters (drafted by the Fielkow office) calling for saving and incorporating McDonogh No. 11 into the 37-acre UMC hospital complex design rather than demolishing the building.  One letter is headed to the chair of the UMC Board, the other is off to the head of the state's Office of Facilities Planning and Control.  Council Member Jon Johnson was the only member who did not sign on.

I'm grateful to the members who signed the letters.  They deserve thanks for recognizing the value of the building and for doing something right, no matter how late in the game or what may have transpired to date.  There is a better way forward.

"Find a way to save McDonogh No. 11"

Yes, indeed.

I never thought I'd see the day, but the Times-Picayune published an editorial today calling on the state to save McDonogh No. 11 School.  It caps off a week of concerted effort to highlight the longstanding issue:

"The new medical center and the research that is expected to be attached to it is important to the future economic viability of the city. There ought to be a way, though, to get moving on the hospital without subjecting McDonogh No. 11 to the wrecking ball."

It can be done

McDonogh No. 11 School can be saved and incorporated into a reconfigured UMC design.

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.

Another Possible Twist in the Priestley Charter School Saga

There's now another interesting aspect to the long, tortured saga of Priestley Charter School, the school that currently occupies the historic McDonough No. 11 School in the LSU Footprint.

The students are set, unfortunately, to be forced out of the building over the holiday break and sent to an inferior location way out on Almonaster Avenue.

Recently, though, I heard about a proposal for a long-term replacement home for Priestley Charter via Jeff Schwartz with Broad Community Connections.  Schwartz worked with an MIT team that came up with a winning plan for creating a home for the wandering school in the old Israel M. Augustine School building that currently sits vacant on Broad Street near Tulane Avenue:

An innovative fabrication center


The idea of linking was a signature theme in the second group's proposal for a vocational school and fabrication facility in the Broad Street area of New Orleans. A team of DUSP and architecture graduate students worked with the non-profit Broad Community Connections to develop a proposal to rehabilitate an abandoned school building into a construction and design center. The redeveloped space would provide a home for the Priestley School of Architecture and Construction, a charter school that serves at-risk students. A permanent home for the Priestley School — on its fourth location in four years — will allow the school to focus on providing a quality education. In addition, the building will feature a Fabrication Laboratory, or Fab Lab, as a complementary use on site. Fab Labs are workshops for high-tech digital fabrication that aim to bring innovation and entrepreneurship to the local community. The final piece of the team's proposal calls for sustained relationships with the MIT community to add additional capacity to both the development project and the operations of the school.


“Several community members approached our team at the finals (even some that had come to support other proposals!) to tell us how important the renovation of the Augustine school would be to the local community,” said Caroline Todd Edwards, a graduate student in urban studies and planning who was part of the team.

What happened to my house at 2415 Palmyra?

A reader named Gail LaBorde emailed to inquire about the shotgun house that stood four houses up from Outer Banks on the same side.  Her sister appears above in front of the house in the early 1960s, the house Gail called home from 1957-1976:

My house was distinguished from other houses on the block by its white picket fence as you can see from the black and white photo. It had a nice, big front porch that was a gathering place for all the neighborhood children during the summer months.

I haven't covered the house much at all (here's what it looked like back in the spring) so Gail brings up a good point:

 I have seen pictures of every house on my block except mine. I drove by there about a month ago and it was gone. Do you know if it was torn down or moved? If moved, do you know where it moved to?

Here's where it went - just a little ways up Palmyra Street to 2630 Palmyra between Dorgenois and Broad.  It was moved on Friday, September 24, 2010 (it's not a very good photo, which is probably why I didn't post it earlier):

Gail also noted that she attended the old McDonogh No. 11 School, which will likely be demolished:

I attended McDonough #11 School for 1st - 6th grade in the 1960's. Seeing my house and old school taken away makes me feel as though part of my past is being wiped away. But at least I have wonderful memories of my childhood there.

The Sad Tale of Priestly Charter School

The fact that its present home in the LSU Footprint - the beautiful McDonough 11 School built in 1879 - will be demolished by LSU is only one aspect:

They’re not sure if space will be a problem come January or not – because neither they nor the faculty know where the school will be housed in less than three months. The current site is within the footprint of the new Louisiana State University hospital that will replace Charity Hospital, and they school is being forced to move.

The other is this:

By January, Priestly School of Architecture and Construction seniors Tamara Handy and Jason Lang will have attended classes at three campuses in four years, moving with the peripatetic New Orleans charter high school.

HT/Michelle K

After the Bell

Students from Priestley Charter School in the LSU Footprint make their way up Palmyra Street through the VA Footprint after school.  The house in the background is being prepped for moving.  People continue to live in the blue house next door - the only inhabited building that remains on the block, with the exception of Outer Banks bar, the tall building below in the mid-ground.

Meanwhile, in the LSU Footprint

This Italianate 1879 school building designed by William Freret - and known as McDonough 11- stands at 2009 Palmyra in the middle of the site proposed for the UMC.  The University Medical Center is on the drawing board because LSU refuses to rebuild its hospital inside the historic Charity Hospital building.

The building presently houses Priestley Charter School, which focuses on preparing students for Architecture and Construction (yes, add a bit more sad irony to the heap).

There are no plans to move the building - and I don't know that it could be done even if the funds and willpower were available.

The shot below gives a nice sense of the complexity of the building's architectural texture:

McDonough No. 11

Clouds loom.