This news brief appeared in the February issue of PRC’s Preservation in Print magazine. Interested in getting more preservation stories like this delivered to your door nine times a year? Become a member of the PRC for a subscription!
Work has begun on a new $6.7 million headquarters building on City Park Avenue for the New Orleans Fire Department. Once the building is complete, the department will move its headquarters out of the French Quarter. “Engine/Station 29 will remain at 317 Decatur St. while a plan for the future use for the building is determined,” NOFD Superintendent Roman Nelson said in a city news release.
The city said the move will make the NOFD’s headquarters “a more centrally located place for easier access for staff, firemen and the general public — next to the Delgado Community College campus and less than a mile from I-610 and Canal Street/Canal Boulevard and the Orleans Parish Communication District headquarters,” the news release said.
“Facing the needs of a modern Fire Department, the NOFD has long outgrown our current historical headquarters location in the French Quarter. Despite remodels over the years, it remains antiquated and limited in its ability to service the public, due to a lack of parking and handicap accessibility, inadequate space for all leadership staff onsite and intermittent traffic issues traveling through the French Quarter due to festivals, events, or just a good Friday happy hour crowd,” the superintendent said in the release. The new headquarters on City Park Avenue will allow the department to consolidate most of its leadership and support services in one location.
The project includes renovations to the former Municipal Training Academy Delgado building to house NOFD administrative headquarters, training center and 24-hour NOFD Emergency Response Command Center. The project team features architect NANO, LLC, contractor Centric Gulf Coast, Inc. (Phase 1) and CPA Project Manager Jennifer Lilos, the news release said.
Photo by Jim Hobbs
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