blight and demolition

City seizes the blighted Buddy Bolden house, NOLA.com reports

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The city seized the blighted Central City shotgun where legendary jazz pioneer Buddy Bolden once lived, stating the owner, Greater St. Stephen Ministries, let fines for minimum property maintenance pile up unpaid, Doug MacCash reports on NOLA.com. Grammy winning musician PJ Morton, the son of the St. Stephen pastors, announced plans in 2019 to renovate the Bolden house at 2309-11 First St. and a twin shotgun double next door into a museum and community recording studio, but has allowed it to deteriorate for years.

roadwork

Roadwork ahead: St. Charles Avenue lane will stay closed for waterline replacement

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From the Mayor’s Office
City officials decided this week to extend the closure of the westbound travel lane of St. Charles Avenue between Burdette Street and Fern Street. The lane has been blocked off since Sept. 26. Department of Public Work contractor Infinity Construction and Trucking and the Sewerage & Water Board continue to work on the installation and tie-in of a waterline in this location.

historic preservation

Trumpeter Doc Paulin’s Central City home up for landmark status

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The Historic District Landmark Commission will vote Wednesday (Nov. 2) on taking steps toward granting landmark status to an unassuming four-bay cottage in Central City, the home where Ernest and Betty Paulin raised their 13 children. Buildings can become city landmarks for their architectural or their cultural significance.  In the case of 2230-32 Seventh St., it would be the latter. “Ernest ‘Doc’ Paulin had a seven-decade-long career promoting and performing traditional New Orleans jazz, as well as mentoring other musicians,” the HDLC staff states in its report. “His contributions to the city’s musical and cultural heritage are well documented and undeniable.” The HDLC staff recommended that the commission approve the nomination

Paulin began his career as a New Orleans bandleader and trumpeter in the 1920s, performing with musicians such as Kid Ory and Oscar “Papa” Celestin and forming the Doc Paulin Dixieland Jazz Band.

city government

Roadwork ahead: Oretha Castle Haley closure to affect traffic, bus route

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Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard will be closed between Jackson Avenue and St. Andrew Street beginning at 7 a.m. on Monday (Oct. 24). The Department of Public Works contractor, Barriere Construction Co., will temporarily close the street for approximately eight weeks. Crews will work Monday through Friday, in addition to some weekend work to accommodate holidays and adverse weather conditions.

city government

Representatives from city’s Sanitation Department, Roadwork NOLA and Code Enforcement will take your questions

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A representative from the Department of Sanitation will be available for individual appointments on Wednesday (Oct. 19) through the District B Community Office Hours at the Rosa F. Keller Library & Community Center, 4300 S. Broad St. Virtual and in-person appointments are available from 10:30 to 11: 30 a.m. To make an appointment, call 504-658-4985 or go online at nola.gov/coh. The one-on-one meetings are 15 minutes long. The Neighborhood Engagement Office will also host representatives from Roadwork NOLA on Oct.

Get answers to your roadwork questions tonight at District A event

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District A residents can find what’s going with the street repairs in their neighborhood at an informational event Monday evening (Oct. 17). Hosted by District A Councilman Joe Giarrusso’s office and the Department of Public Works, the event will include informational tables on the current FEMA-funded Joint Infrastructure Recovery projects, including Magazine Street, Audubon Group B, Lowerline Street Audubon Group A, Black Pearl East Carrollton Group A, Marlyville-Fontainebleu Group A and C, Hollygrove Leonidas Group A and Hollygrove Group B.

The event will be held at the Thurgood Marshall School, 4621 Canal St. It begins at 6 p.m. 

 

events

Community effort clears out trash, fills up potholes in Hollygrove-Dixon

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More than 60 bags of trash and more than a dozen bulk items were carted away from the Hollygrove-Dixon area on Saturday (Oct. 8), the Mayor’s Neighborhood Engagement Office reported. The cleanup was part of the Neighborhood Cares Initiative, a comprehensive, coordinated initiative combining the efforts of multiple city departments and volunteers from the community. More than 30 volunteers participated. On Saturday and throughout the previous week, city departments patched over 100 potholes, cut 29 overgrown lots and cleared dumping sites throughout the neighborhood.

city government

City Council to vote on expanding area covered by parking overlay

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City Council will vote Thursday (Oct. 6) on an interim zoning district that would temporarily expand the area subject to the University Area Off-Street Parking Overlay restrictions. The proposed interim zoning district would include the Carrollton, Marlyville-Fontainebleau, Broadmoor and Uptown neighborhoods in the restrictions aimed at curbing “doubles to dorms” developments. These private student housing developments are rented by the bedroom. 

The University Area Off-Street Parking Overlay, passed in October 2021, addresses the residential density from D2Ds by requiring a permeable off-street parking spot for each bedroom added to a property. It applies to new construction and renovations with more than five bedrooms in residential buildings without a homestead exemption. 

The interim zoning district and overlay were both created to address the lack of Uptown parking because of the greater residential density from D2D development.

Developers plan to turn Our Lady of Lourdes into a reception hall

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Plans are in the works to turn the long-dormant Our Lady of Lourdes church on Napoleon Avenue into a reception hall and event venue. The project is in the early stages of development — so early that the developer named in a letter informing neighbors about the plans, Arts Design Hospitality + Development, is not registered with the state. “The LLC has not been formulated yet,” said Zach Smith, a land-use consultant working with the developers. “But eventually we have two individuals who will comprise that group.”

David Fusilier, a contractor with Perle Construction, and Doug Cloninger, director of Amicus Investment Holdings, plan to purchase and renovate the century-old building, listed at $1.25 million. The church anchors the uptown-lake corner of the square block bounded by Napoleon, La Salle, Jena and Freret.

opinion

Viewpoint: Crime and Cantrell will hurt the city’s bottom line

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Like many New Orleanians, I’ve been inundated with national and international news reports about New Orleans’ crime and Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s missteps. This week’s piece in the New York Post is only one of many recent examples. With New Orleans’ designation as “Murder Capital of the U.S.” and the lack of progress being made in reversing that trend, I expect those stories to become more frequent. Bourbon Street is still hopping and no conventions have cancelled because of the record number of murders, armed robberies and carjackings. Perhaps some are naïve enough to believe that crime and Mayor Cantrell are not hurting our economy.