WELCOME HOME! Workshops
Stop in at the PRC on Thursday
afternoons at 4:00 and you'll find
OC Assistant Director Maryann
Miller conducting a workshop. For
the past four months, she has wel-
comed homeowners, landlords, con-
tractors and anyone else who needs
guidance to free seminars addressing
issues important to renovators in
post-Katrina New Orleans. If you
missed one, odds are it will be repeat-
ed over the next several months. Or
log on to www.prcno.org/workshops.html
to read notes from workshops past.
And for details on upcoming work-
shops, see the "Live in a Landmark"
calendar below, or log on to
www.prcno.orgleven.html. Due to
Mardi Gras, there will be no work-
shop on Thursday, February 23.
A recent workshop netted not
only renovators, but a pair of visitors
from New York who wanted an
opportunity to connect with real
New Orleanians about what they are
going through in aftermath of the
storm. According to Miller, "The
folks from New York listened intently
to everyone's tale. They were compas-
sionate and told me later that they
feel like they now understand the
disaster in a way they never did
before." You never know who you
will meet at an OC workshop!
22 FEBRUARY 2006 PRESERVATION IN PRINT
What's Up at OC?
by R. Stephanie Bruno
Operation Comeback property report
Drive by 3901 Tchoupitoulas
Street and check out the progress on
Big Red - officially called
0
3901 Tchoupitoulas Street
Incardonia's. Despite a bit of storm
damage to the roof and fence, the
building sailed through Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita and is now on the
fast track. All four condos will be com-
pleted and on the market this spring.
Look for a rebuilt canopy, a railing
on the front balcony, doors and
windows in place, as well as a sign
designating the project as the winner
of a Restore America grant,
administered by the National Trust
for Historic Preservation and HGTV.
Walls are set to start closing in week
or two. For information about buy-
ing one of the loft-like condos,
contact Maryann Miller at
(504) 636-3046 or
mmiller@prcno.org.
Across town in
Holy Cross, work is about to start
on repairs to 5109 Dauphine
Street, the cozy cottage that we had
completed a week or so before the
hurricane poured three feet of
water into the building! Next door is
5101 Dauphine St., the shotgun
double we'll be converting to a single
and restoring in partnership with the
World Monuments Fund and
the Preservation
Trades
Neiwork. Across the street, Nicole
Barron is finishing repairs to her
home at 5112 Dauphine Street, a
house we renovated in 2004. And
around the corner at 819 Forstall,
we plan to build a modified version of
the contemporary Creole cottage that
architect Wayne Troyer designed
for us a few years ago with a grant
from the National Endowment
for the Arts. We're just one block
up from Mrs. Bennett's HOME
AGAIN! house and five other homes
the National Trust and PRC have
been helping the owners clean and
remediate.
Courtesy Wayne Troyer, Architect,
based on the NEA design of David Gregor,
Irene Keil, and Wayne Troyer. Rendering by Tracie Ashe.
DEPARTMENT OF SAFETY AND PERMITS
CITY OF NEW ORLEANS
. v.v r
cl its04-cc 2r, 58-7130
THIS STRUCTURE IS UNSAFE AND ITS US
r EW-51_,Tre,
OR OCCUPANCY HAS BEEN PROHIBITED
BY THE BUILDING OFFICIAL
Operation Come
the fieldlOr much
panying National Ttust staff mem-
bers Kevin Mercadel and Walter
Gallas as well as volunteer architects
in surveying historic buildings that
landed on the city's red-tag list after
Katrina. Red tags indicate that build-
ings have significant structural
damage, and some of the red
tagged buildings are deemed in
imminent danger of collapse.
The great news is that New
Orleans Safety & Permits direc-
tor Mike Centineo has been care-
fully reviewing the first round of red
tag designations and steadily whit-
tling down the list, from as many
as 5500 citywide at one point to
1900. About 400 are in local
and national historic districts,
and those are the ones we have been
double checking.
Many are totally collapsed,
others are off their foundations.
1442 St. Claude Avenue
But still others are in conditions similar
to houses that OC buys and reno-
vates, and can be rehabilitated.
In the coming weeks we will work
with the National Trust to make a
case for saving several dozen
of the red tagged buildings. The city's
Greg Meffert, who has jurisdiction
over the process, has demonstrated a
willingness to work with us.
www.prcno.org