Over the past year, the Preservation Resource Center has been hard at work to promote the preservation, restoration, and revitalization of New Orleans’ historic architecture and neighborhoods. In case you missed anything, we’ve compiled a short list of our ten greatest accomplishments in 2016:
The Operation Comeback department is renovating the Straight University Boarding House, a property the Preservation Resource Center saved from demolition. Research discovered that it is the last remaining site of the original campus of Straight University, one of the first African American universities in the state of Louisiana.
PRC’s Easement department accepted its 123rd easement with the donation of 2475 Canal Street, a mid-century modern building, designed by Curtis and Davis.
Preservation in Print won three awards from the New Orleans Press Club — first, second and third places for best Community News and best overall magazine — in 2016, as well as printed nearly 90,000 issues to spread the word about the importance of historic preservation.
The Education and Outreach department organized 30 home buying and renovation programs, which brought information and resources on purchasing and restoring a historic New Orleans home to 1,350 individuals across New Orleans.
PRC partnered with Traditional Home magazine to present the five-week Southern Style Now Designer Showhouse, which featured 23 designers of Southern origin and attracted over 3,000 architecture and design enthusiasts from across the country.
PRC expanded its visitor space in its headquarters at 923 Tchoupitoulas St. and completed the Mary Shelton Fitzpatrick First Floor Gallery, Reading Room and Exhibit Space.
During Rebuilding Together’s 2016 October Build, 25 teams with 600 individuals volunteered to help seven homeowners in need, leveraging over $150,000 in contributions from our proud corporate partners (Chevron presenting sponsor).
Staff mobilized to lead hundreds of volunteers to respond to historic flooding in the Baton Rouge area. Rebuilding Together has continued to lead volunteer groups, bring homeowners back, and coach existing organizations from lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina.
Our Advocacy department raised neighborhood opposition to the demolition of the circa 1920s Gayarre Elementary school building and advocated successfully in the creation of four new locally-protected historic districts: Uptown, Carrollton, Parkview and Mid-City.
In partnership with the Tulane School of Architecture Master of Preservation Studies program, PRC held Preservation Matters IV: Preservation Pays, How Everyone Benefits, a two-day symposium featuring national and local experts to discuss the immense benefits of historic preservation.
The work we have done in our great city would not be possible without your continued support and interest. Thank you. We look forward to taking even more strides in 2017 to promote the preservation, restoration, and revitalization of New Orleans’ historic architecture and neighborhoods!
