Nonprofit selects 'New Orleans' Nine' to highlight factors that threaten city’s built environment
Written by Stephanie Bruno, Contributing Writer NOLA.com and photo by Shawn Fink
The old Holy Cross School, St. Alphonsus Arts and Cultural Center, jazz great Buddy Bolden's home and several original buildings in the B.W. Cooper housing development are among the historic sites that the Louisiana Landmarks Society deems to be most at risk in New Orleans.
For the past 15 years, the nonprofit preservation group has issued an annual list dubbed the “New Orleans’ Nine” to bring attention to the factors that threaten the existence and survival of the city’s built environment.
Announced Saturday, the list for 2020 includes the original Holy Cross School in the Lower 9th Ward, St. Alphonsus in the Lower Garden District, the B.W. Cooper buildings along Earhart Boulevard and the Bolden home in Central City, plus an 1860s era cottage on St. Andrew Street in Central City, and the French Benevolent Society tomb in Lafayette No. 2 Cemetery on Washington Avenue.
In a twist, three of the nine relate to non-site-specific threats to the city’s cultural and architectural heritage:
Issues with code enforcement and inspections at the city’s Department of Safety and Permits
The proposal for expanding the pedestrian mall in the French Quarter
The trend in the University area of turning houses into de facto dormitories for college students.
The overarching concern about code enforcement and building inspections affects every neighborhood, the Landmarks Society says, adding that Safety and Permits might have played a role in the deadly collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel in October 2019. News reports have shown that some inspectors were unqualified and record-keeping from some inspections was suspect. The nonprofit cites underfunding and restructuring at City Hall as factors frustrating the department’s efforts.
In the French Quarter, the society perceives a proposal to turn much of the 66 square blocks into a car-free environment as a threat to the residential quality of life. The Landmarks Society views the proposal as catering to tourists to the detriment of full-time residents.
“Pedestrian malls already exist at Jackson Square and on Royal and Bourbon streets,” the group opined. “Further restricting personal vehicles, delivery trucks and emergency vehicles would hinder the viability of the Quarter as an authentic mixed-use neighborhood.”
The home of Bolden, the trailblazing jazz trumpeter, is at severe and continued risk, according to the society. The modest double shotgun house in the 2300 block of First Street was bought by Greater St. Stephens Full Gospel Baptist Church in 2008. The church originally filed for demolition, until Maroon 5 keyboardist and Grammy-winning solo artist P. J. Morton, son of the church ministers, stepped up. The Preservation Resource Center assisted Morton in raising awareness of the importance of the structure, and a permit for stabilizing the building was issued in December 2019.
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