The federal government has extended New Orleans’ deadline to stabilize Municipal Auditorium, which has remained vacant since Hurricane Katrina devastated the building (and much of the city) in August 2005.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency had originally given New Orleans until the end of 2025 to complete work on the 96-year-old landmark and qualify for reimbursement through a $38.5 million grant.
City officials said New Orleans missed that deadline because of circumstances beyond its control, including the COVID-19 pandemic and a cyberattack that crippled the city’s computer network.
Without additional time to spend the money, “it would have been extremely difficult to move this building toward a viable future,” Mayor Helena Moreno said in an interview with The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate.
The extension, announced in September 2026, was “a huge relief,” said Steve Nelson, New Orleans’ director of public works.
The project will proceed in three phases:
- Roof repairs, which, Nelson said, should be completed in November. Rycars Construction holds the contract.
- Exterior repairs, including new windows and doors and waterproofing intended to help the building withstand what Nelson called “the next weather event.” Battco Construction and Maintenance Inc. holds this contract.
- Interior stabilization by Insulation Technologies Inc. This phase, which will include gutting the structure and installing a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system to regulate temperature, is designed to make the building ready for whatever use a developer chooses.
Nelson said the work is expected to use the entire $38.5 million grant.
Although the city has until February 2028 to finish the work, Nelson expects the project to reach “substantial completion” by the end of 2027.
“This is really, really critically important for the city,” he said.
The 200,000-square-foot auditorium opened in 1930 with seating for about 7,800 people in three tiers. It cost roughly $2.5 million (nearly $50 million in 2026 dollars).
Before large venues such as the Caesars Superdome, Smoothie King Center and Ernest N. Morial Convention Center opened, the auditorium hosted a wide variety of events, including concerts, operas, ice shows, boxing matches, circuses, graduations and Carnival balls.
Nelson said he hopes the auditorium will host such events again.
A committee will seek community input on the auditorium’s future, aiming to avoid the backlash sparked when former New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell proposed moving City Hall into the building. The effort will be led by the Greater New Orleans Foundation and the Save Our Soul Coalition, which works to preserve the cultural legacy of Tremé and Congo Square. The Square adjoins the auditorium in Armstrong Park.
Whatever the auditorium’s ultimate use, Nelson said, “We hope to return it to its former glory.
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