Report from the S.W. Green Forum

Earlier this evening, Mr. Jari Christopher Louis Honora shared an excellent, well-researched overview of the life of Smith Wendell "S.W." Green, whose portrait stands at left.  Honora's remarks from an historian's perspective revealed just how prominent Mr. Green was at the turn of the century both in the black community locally and in the nation at large.

Perhaps the most riveting episode from his life revolved around a time in Florida when Green was arrested and nearly lynched (and was reported dead from lynching) after he took the "audacious" step of hiring his own Pullman car on a train.

The Forum, held at the historic St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church on N. Roman Street, also featured a video presentation by architect Kenneth Bryant, the figure most responsible for a sudden revival in interest in S.W. Green and his home at 219 S. Miro.

An air of uncertainty floated about the room after the presenters concluded - Were the assurances by the state that the house would not be demolished in writing?  How much would it cost to move the house?  Who would pay for it?  Where would it go?

Mr. Leon Waters reported that Mr. Paul Sylvester, the owner of the property, is in daily communication with the state about relocating the property and that there are no plans at present to demolish the building [*I will note that the outbuildings behind the mansion were already demolished in the past month].  He also said there is an injunction in place regarding the property - which I did not know about.

One thing was certain, however: those in attendance felt the S.W. Green House was worth saving as an important symbol of the rise of African Americans in society and in American history.

ADDED - 10:37 p.m.: Preservation Resource Center posted this 20 minutes ago on Facebook:

Breaking news: WWLTV reports that the S.W. Green house will be saved! It be moved to a site on Banks Street. We'll post as we learn more.

Theft, Trespassing, and a Refusal to Go Quietly

Last week, I ran into Fox8's Shelley Brown as she waited to film this news story about Matteo Neivert, an artist who suffered theft of $50-70k of his property at a home he still owns on Palmyra Street.

"Report an Abuse of Eminent Domain"

Please report an abuse of eminent domain here at the Castle Coalition website. 

The Castle Coalition is an eminent domain abuse watchdog group, a project of the Institute for Justice.

Please inform the Coalition that widespread expropriation (the Louisiana civil law term for eminent domain) is underway in the LSU/VA project, and it's especially inappropriate on the LSU Footprint site because adequate financing to build the project is not in place. 

It's also generally inappropriate because LSU refused to consider the Charity Hospital alternative - which would not have required nearly as much expropriation of residences and businesses, if any.

Several business owners and residents in both footprints have indicated they want to fight expropriation, and two cases are ostensibly making their way through the courts here in New Orleans.

Please help them by getting the Castle Coalition involved.

On the LSU Footprint Side

A small excavator appeared today at Palmyra and S. Galvez, ringed by caution tape.

Down at 216 S. Prieur, the nice little camelback was looking increasingly forlorn.  But I was surprised to see a much more extensive salvage effort underway that I'd seen at any other house in either footprint.  Flooring and joists, for example, were being extricated. 

It turns out that salvage expert Willie White was on the scene with a crew.  The salvaged items, he told me with a bit of a smile, don't go to Habitat for Humanity, but to "Willie's survival fund."

In the VA Footprint site, salvage is governed by an Architectural Salvage Agreement drafted pursuant to the Programmatic Agreement for that project.  However, I'm not sure what, if anything, governs salvage on the LSU side.  Understanding that there may be few salvage guarantees in place - and while I'd rather see the neighborhood left intact or the houses moved - it's great to see an expert salvage crew at work.  Willie did say he wished he had more time for each house, however.

The salvage effort underway on 2118 Cleveland Avenue in the LSU Footprint was also notably more extensive than most I'd seen on the VA side, but I presumed the items were going to Habitat's ReStore:

Down at the former site of 1809-1811 Cleveland, though, the site was almost totally cleared:

Over on Palmyra, one can't help but notice that LSU/the State of Louisiana is a rather poor land owner or neighbor.  Several parcels now owned by the LSU Board or well into the acquisition process are unsecured and massively overgrown (especially a stretch of Palmyra just below S. Prieur near a school). 

Additionally, architectural elements such as brackets have been stripped off a few of the houses in recent months:

Minor Change Amidst the Major Change

Boards go up.

Doors go down....

Gas goes off.

S.W. Green House - Forum Tonight

Here are the details from an earlier post.

Press Conference Tomorrow - in the LSU Footprint

Stop the Demolitions in the LSU Footprint
Monday, October 11, 2010
10:00 a.m.
2118 Cleveland Avenue, New Orleans (immediately behind Deutsches Haus off S. Galvez)

A group of residents and community organizations will gather to call on public officials to halt the demolitions that began last week in the LSU Footprint because the City of New Orleans has not yet closed the streets in the area, LSU does not have the funding to build its proposed hospital, and residents have not had adequate notice that demolitions in their neighborhood were imminent.

On the Radio

Jacques Morial and Brad Ott took to the airwaves this morning to discuss the hospitals project in Lower Mid-City, focusing on the healthcare aspects of the issue.

"The state's own study projects that the UMC...will lose up to $100 million per year for several years..."

A Second Storm

Mr. Joe shows me photos of how the street out front looked when he began rebuilding after Katrina.  Next door, workers continued to dismantle a house, one of the first three properties in the LSU Footprint entered by crews in the past week.

Just outside the antique white metal gate and a cluster of flowers, I note that Mr. Joe's sidewalk does not yet sport the green spraypaint markings indicating LSU ownership.

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.

VA Footprint Acqusitions: Ms. Brenda Breaux's Update

As you can see, there are very few properties left to squeeze out.

A total of 91 properties have been acquired by expropriation (eminent domain) to date - in the VA Footprint alone.  That's not counting whatever LSU has expropriated in the LSU Footprint.  And, from the tail end of the list, one can see that more expropriations are coming. 

What is expropriation?  It's not simply a benign tool for making a project happen.

Imagine living in a house for much of your life.  Your children were born there, you rebuilt after Katrina.  Someone comes along from the state intent on buying your property.  You don't want to move.  You negotiate to get a higher price, one you believe you deserve.  There's some bargaining, but ultimately the state thinks your asking price is too high.  The state then files a notice with a court, deposits an amount it thinks appropriate, and tells you that you have so many days to leave whether you want to or not.  The City Council talks about having extensive hearings...after the deed is done.

That, in a greatly simplified nutshell, is how expropriation has proceeded in the VA Footprint.  And, while I wouldn't wish it on anyone, perhaps Ms. Breaux, too, will experience the joys of expropriation firsthand some day.

It's also interesting to see that the Dixie Brewery parcels are still hanging out there.  They have not yet been acquired.  Yesterday, I happened to encounter the owners of the properties on site.

Ms. Breaux also reported on the number of demolitions and moves in the Footprint, and they were different from my own tabulation - likely due to a few outbuildings or connected residence/business spaces that I did not include in my numbers.  Roughly speaking, though, as of this weekend, approximately 30 structures have been demolished and 30 have been moved off the VA Footprint site.

City Council

Here's video from Fox8's report on the City Council committee appearances yesterday by residents of the VA Footprint.

It doesn't include my comments near the end of the presentation period, updating Stacy Head, the only Council member present, about the move into the LSU Footprint.

Last Days

The move out began this week at this classic New Orleans Raised Basement style house on Banks Street.

And Still They Remain

One of the folks on the porch at right is set to have back surgery soon.  And get forced out of his residence before the month is out.

The Dismantling Continues

216 S. Prieur - LSU Footprint

Strange

We've been led to believe that four houses in the VA Footprint would ultimately avoid demolition and be moved to a location along Rocheblave when the entire site is cleared for use in the final VA Hospital complex.  One of them is pictured above.

However, crews began to remove the roof on the house at 310-12 S. Miro Street yesterday.  And it was still exposed today.  The house was in rather good shape, and it was inhabited in the first few months of my rambling in the Footprint.

Are the four houses actually going to be saved from demolition and re-used by VA?

Equipoise

As of today, now that I've reviewed the numbers and the addresses, 27 structures have been demolished in the LSU/VA Footprint (not counting 2 half-rebuilt structures) and 27 structures have been moved off site.

Corner Store - Will Be Moved

Part of the building at Cleveland and S. Rocheblave is on a slab foundation - but the crews have found a way to move it (or almost all of it).  That's far better than I anticipated.

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.

The First Structure is Demolished in the LSU Footprint

Down in the Dust

Yesterday, workers prepared a house at 2226-28 Cleveland Avenue for a move this Friday.  Two other houses are also sitting on wheels at this stage.

The house was one of the seemingly most dilapidated and overgrown of the bunch.  But removing a few items here and there revealed it to be structurally sound, and it's now on its way to rehabilitation and re-use on a different site.

It's a good reminder that first appearances and the blanket term "blight" is a woefully mistaken approach to the housing stock that suffered through Katrina in the LSU/VA Footprint.

Wally's House

The Triangle

Often overlooked, the triangle of land between Banks Street, Rocheblave, and Tulane Avenue (dominated by the old Dixie Brewery from 1907) has been back on the radar in the past two weeks or so.

The camelback that recently met its end required asbestos abatement before demolition, as indicated by the red "Asbestos Hazard" tape strung along the site.

Down near the tip of the triangle, the sign at Lee's Seafood and Grill started to come down.  The busy corner restaurant recently stopped serving.

A question about the start of site preparation in the LSU Footprint

As you may recall, the New Orleans City Council had to act to close the streets in the VA Footprint before site preparation got underway on that side of S. Galvez.

You'll also recall that Mayor Landrieu, this summer, refused to grant the closure of the streets in the LSU Footprint as a means of exacting leverage over LSU with respect to the design of the hospital planned for that side.

Here's my question: perhaps I missed it, but has the City Council passed anything that officially closes the streets in the LSU Footprint?  If not, how are residents supposed to be on official notice from the city that demolitions and heavy salvage operations are imminent/occurring other than by seeing or feeling the activity next door?

It seems to me that the process pattern was established with the VA Footprint - why isn't it being followed here as crews move in?

---

Last evening, I followed a large excavator as it shook the ground and dropped debris on its way down Palmyra Street into the LSU Footprint.

Children at the Priestley School came out to watch as the excavator stopped traffic for a bit and then proceeded down to this property, an old grocery store on Cleveland Avenue, which crews had already started in on:

I happened upon the scene because I was making my way to the home of a few people who live way down on Palmyra - whose landlord refuses to sell, whose house does not have the standard green spraypaint insignia on the sidewalk out front to indicate an LSU-owned lot.

They pay $200 a month in rent, and at least three different families, some with children, reside at different addresses in the house.  The family I talked to does not know where else it will be able to live, and they'd asked me some time ago to come back and let them know what was going on.

Well, I told them, I know your landlord has not yet given in, but the crews are now on this side of S. Galvez.  And LSU will likely just expropriate your landlord's property even if he refuses to sell.  So you need to start making plans.

"Save the Haus!"

The cry goes up once more.