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.

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.

events

Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 cleanup planned for Thursday

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Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, padlocked since 2019, will open Thursday morning (Oct. 13) for a volunteer cleanup to ready the historic “city of the dead” for All Saints’ Day. Garden District neighbors will pull up weeds, remove broken concrete and clean walkways from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 was founded in 1833 and still in use today, although the city has closed it to the public to make repairs and to protect the delicate tombs.

business

New York investors buy the Whole Foods building on Magazine

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A New York investment group has purchased Arabella Station, the home of Whole Foods Market on Magazine Street, for $31.4 million, property records show. Whole Foods has a long-term lease on the former bus barn and is expected to remain. The property that takes up the entire block at 5600 Magazine St. was purchased by DK WFNO, a limited liability company operated by Debra Kalimian. Kalimian runs D&R Holding and A&R Kalimian Realty out of offices in Manhattan, records show.

historic preservation

Church working to take landmark building off the endangered list

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The slow deterioration of the Victorian-era wooden church on the Magazine and Valence streets has caught the attention of the Louisiana Landmarks Society. It was the only Uptown building on the preservation advocacy group’s 2022 list of New Orleans’ Most Endangered Sites. “Long a fixture along Magazine Street and for years described as ‘the country church uptown,’ the church building is now forlorn and neglected, a former neighborhood anchor now in decline on a busy, thriving commercial part of Magazine Street,” the LLS states in its report. It may not be neglected for long. The building has also caught the attention of a Baptist congregation in the Uptown area.

historic preservation

New owner of historic home has been trying for years to demolish it. With the council’s reluctant OK, now he can.

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The City Council voted Thursday to allow the demolition of a century-old house in the Uptown historic district, while mandating that the owner retain or restore the façade. It was  the fifth demolition request for 1230 Webster St. since 2019, after it was put on the market and eventually sold to an Alabama couple. Some requests were withdrawn, others denied. The Historic District Landmarks Commission has repeatedly opposed the demolition.

Audubon-Riverside homes to be featured in 2022 Shotgun House Tour

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The Preservation Resource Center’s Shotgun House Tour focuses on how the historic cottages can be adapted for a modern family. For this year’s tour on June 11 and 12, the PRC will open the doors to five private shotgun homes in the Audubon Riverside neighborhood, promising “smart, innovative renovations that showcase the livability and versatility of the city’s favorite house type.” As a bonus, the tour also includes the restored Hales Cottage on the campus of Children’s Hospital. Hales Cottage is one of the oldest buildings in Uptown New Orleans, with parts of its timber wall frames dating to the late 18th century. The tour headquarters is in St.

land use & development

City Council approves compromise allowing new Magazine Street building

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The City Council backed a plan to approve a controversial new building on Magazine Street in the Irish Channel while requiring further design changes to the three-story mixed-use building. The Historic District Landmarks Commission had gave the project its conceptual approval in April. The Garden District Association then filed an appeal asking the City Council to overturn the HDLC’s decision. In the appeal, Garden District Association President Frank Tessier quotes liberally from the HDLC’s guidelines for new construction, pointing out requirements — such as aligning balconies, roof ridges and other elements with adjacent buildings — that he states were not followed by the commission when it approved the design for 2230 Magazine. The appeal states the building is too large for the site, despite guidelines that require compatibility in size and massing.

land use & development

New building on Magazine Street gets HDLC approval over neighbors’ objections

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In a divided vote held after two months of hearings, the Historic District Landmarks Commission gave the green light to a new mixed-use building on Magazine Street in the Irish Channel. Their April 6 ruling will now go before the City Council, which could overturn the vote. The Garden District Association has filed an appeal, GDA Executive Director Shelley Landrieu told Uptown Messenger. Garden District, Irish Channel and Lower Garden District residents came out in force to oppose the plans for the three-story 15,000-square-foot building planned for an empty lot at 2230 Magazine St. The HDLC received 29 letters of opposition to the plans and one letter of support, according to city records.

city government

City Council upholds demolition of bungalow on Henry Clay

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The City Council voted Thursday (March 24) to uphold the Historic District Landmarks Commission’s approval of a developer’s request to raze a house on Henry Clay Avenue in the Uptown historic district. The demolition had been challenged by preservation advocate Susan Johnson. The HDLC staff backed the demolition request in its report to the commission and its testimony to the City Council. It’s rare that the HDLC staff support a demolition, according to Eleanor Burke, the commission’s deputy director. “Once historic resources or buildings that contribute to the heritage of a community are destroyed,” Burke told the council, “it is generally impossible to reproduce their design, texture, materials, details and their special character and interest in the neighborhood.”