Halloween

Halloween crowds gather to see the house with good bones

By |

Every year in October, if you ride on St. Charles Avenue in the vicinity of the corner of State Street, you will see crowds gathered at the Skeleton House. 

This has become a fixture on the New Orleans Halloween scene. In the front yard – and spilling over onto the sidewalk and up into the trees — are more than 100 skeletons wearing costumes and wonderfully punny labels. The plays on words satirize politicians (John “For Whom the Bel Tolls” Edwards, Bobby Dwindle), celebrities (Dead Astaire, Bone Jovi), and local personalities (TromBONE Shorty, Morris Bat). 

Homeowner Louellen Berger is the brains behind the funny bones, and last year the display came back in full force after the pandemic. Uptown Messenger caught up with some spectators during a beautiful mid-October day. 

Olivia Nolt and her sister, Adrienne Nolt, visiting from Maryland were there among the audience.

This new bar offers a view of the park from historic hotel

By |

The Park View Historic Hotel on St. Charles Avenue overlooking Audubon Park now has a bar. The Gilded Perch opened two months ago and serves new and classic cocktails in a glamorous space. The Park View dates back to 1884, when it was built to welcome guests of the World International and Cotton Exposition at Audubon Park. The building was purchased and fully restored by Liz and Terry Creel in 2008.

land use & development

St. Charles Avenue apartment developers to add more trees and green space

By |

The corner of St. Charles and Louisiana is getting a little greener. 

On Wednesday (Aug. 17), the Historic District Landmark Commission’s Architectural Review Committee approved updated designs for the planned 115-unit residential and retail development at 3401 St. Charles. The new designs take into consideration the committee’s previous recommendation to add green space by incorporating more trees and two public courtyards along Louisiana Avenue. 

“We’re seeing this now as a great opportunity to not only increase the quantity and quality of public space, but to improve on the previous design,” said Ken Gowland of MetroStudio Architects in his presentation to the committee. 

This was the fourth meeting about 3401 St.

Development on former Rite Aid site on St. Charles wins appeal over zoning

By |

By Sharon Lurye

Developers working on the new apartment complex at 3401 St. Charles Ave. won another victory at the Board of Zoning Adjustments meeting on Monday, as board officers unanimously agreed that the project qualifies for a density bonus that allows it to fit more units per square foot. The complex, planned for the site where a Rite Aid store has been left vacant for several years, will consist of an apartment building on St. Charles and Louisiana and townhouse-style apartments on the other side of the lot at Delachaise and Carondelet streets.

schools

Louise S. McGehee School will move child care center to a new building

By |

The Louise S. McGehee School won unanimous approval from City Council on Thursday (July 1) to move its child-care center to another building on campus, allowing the all-girls private school to reorganize its classroom spaces for better social distancing. A zoning-related ordinance from 2001 mandated that the school could only use the building it owned on 2336 St. Charles Avenue as an alumni center and administrative offices. As a result, McGehee School had to ask for permission from City Council to allow that building, located at the back of its campus, to be used for child care and additional classrooms.

A City Planning Commission staff report admitted that it’s unclear why the school was so limited in the first place. “The staff is unaware of the original logic for implementing this use restriction,” the report said.

land use & development

Apartment and retail complex planned for St. Charles and Louisiana

By |

The old Rite Aid property at 3401 St. Charles Ave., vacant since 2018, may gain new life. Developers plan to build a 115-unit apartment complex with 19,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. 

Neighborhood residents are abuzz about the planned development at St. Charles and Louisiana avenues, and reactions are split between excitement over the new development and concerns over its size. The development will have a five-story building facing Louisiana and a three-story townhouse behind it, facing Delachaise Street.

Christmas

Need some Christmas cheer? See the lighted oaks on St. Charles Avenue

By |

If you drive on St. Charles Avenue any evening between Thanksgiving and Twelfth Night, you are bound to see a small traffic jam in the 4500 block, across from Academy of the Sacred Heart. The reason? An extravagant light display on the majestic live oak trees and the fence at 4534 St. Charles Ave.

blight and demolition

Glowing up with the Columns: Rejuvenation is a natural progression for this storied gathering place

By |

It wouldn’t be overreaching to say the Columns is beloved by generations of New Orleanians, as well as those visiting the city. The large front porch framed by imposing Doric-style columns has been a favorite for cocktails and watching the scene unfold along St. Charles Avenue. Charming and old world, it is a place where first dates, proposals, break-ups and the accompanying drowning of sorrows, sharing of secrets, love-at-first-sight, weddings, debutante soirees and celebratory fetes happen on a daily basis. If walls could talk, the Columns’ walls could fill three volumes, easily.

land use & development

The Chloe opens on St. Charles Avenue, with homegrown sophistication (and tales of cat ghosts)

By |

For those driving or walking on St. Charles Avenue, watching the transformation of a large Queen Anne style home near Napoleon Avenue has been the talk of the town. And like many buildings, it has stories to tell. On Oct. 28, The Chloe, a boutique hotel with a restaurant and bar, officially opened its doors, becoming the latest resident in this once-upon-a-time sleeping beauty at 4125 St.