New Orleans: a preservation update

AP graphic.

I was heartened to learn earlier in the week, that of the 100,000+ dwellings in New Orleans, "only" 5,500 have been condemned by the city. Fortunately, preservation and housing organizations are challenging even this, so that number could end up being halved.

Earlier in the week, the Christian Science Monitor discussed this in the article "New Orleans' old homes prove they were built to last," reporting on the efforts of the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans (which is one of the most proactive city-wide preservation groups in the U.S., even if the city's political leadership is weak, fortunately that isn't the case with the preservation community):

which is helping residents restore their historic homes. The group has been providing expertise, cleaning supplies, architects and mold-remediation specialists to survey damage to homes. It is looking for eight homes in eight different historic neighborhoods whose owners want to come back. They are called "Demonstration Homes" and the PRC is hoping they will spark other residents to return and restore their homes. "We see them as beacons of hope and inspiration," says Patricia Gay, of the PRC. "We think they will have a ripple effect on other renovations."

She says no project is too difficult; the PRC has saved entire buildings that have collapsed. The cost of rehabbing historic homes is much less expensive than demolishing them and then rebuilding.

A sign against bulldozing hangs on the fence beside a home damaged in Hurricane Katrina in the Lower Ninth Ward district, Friday, Jan. 6, 2006, in New Orleans. The city agreed Friday to wait two more weeks before beginning the wholesale demolition of thousands of storm-damaged homes while a federal judge decides whether to hear a challenge from community activists. However, the city reserved the right in the meantime to clear away perhaps 100 smashed homes that were pushed by the floodwaters into the streets. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

The AP reports that there is a hearing date scheduled to challenge the city's determination that 5,500 houses are beyond repair, in the article "New Orleans Agrees to Delay Demolitions." Clearly, ACORN is on the job, even if other ACORN affiliates are being criticized elsewhere, such as in NYC (see "Calling the Question of ACORN").

Index Keywords: New-Orleans