Uptown Messenger file photo
The McDonogh 7 building, photographed in May 2013, is home to Audubon Charter’s upper school. (UptownMessenger.com file photo)
The Housing Authority of New Orleans is making a bid for the McDonogh 7 building on Milan Street, expected to be vacated by the Audubon Charter School in 2021, in exchange for the much sought-after land for a sports field next to the new Booker T. Washington High School on Earhart Boulevard, Della Hasselle reports in the New Orleans Advocate.
The Orleans Parish School Board agreed Thursday to enter into talks with HANO, which wants the 120-year-old McDonogh 7 building for a mixed-use, mixed-income complex.
A mention of the Touro Bouligny Neighborhood Association was removed from this aggregation. The TBNA President Rella Zapletal, clarified the association’s position: “The TBNA is not against mixed-use or mixed-income development on the McDonogh No. 7 property, as long as the density is appropriate for the neighborhood. We are against HANO obtaining the property and allowing it to lie fallow for an extended period of time — which has occurred with several of their properties across this city. We would prefer for the OPSB to keep the McDonogh No. 7 property a school in order for it to continue to serve our neighborhood — like it has done for the past 100 years.”
