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Natural Disasters

Save the heritage that remains of New Orleans

By Katharine S. Robinson, Executive Director
Historic Charleston Foundation
September 2005

There has been so much loss.

We continue to reel from the shocking aftermath of the most devastating natural disaster to strike this great nation in our lifetime. Accordingly our first response has been to minimize loss of life and to re-establish decent living conditions for those whose homes and lives have been devastated by hurricanes Katrina Rita. Now our nation's other heart-breaking priority - recovering the dead -has drawn to a close. The loss of human life and the loss of those things that made up the lives of nearly a million people - homes, jobs, schools, churches, neighborhoods, entire communities - have been staggering.

Now, another kind of loss from the hurricanes looms. Only this loss is still preventable if we stand firm and demand the highest standards of our leaders and ourselves: that is the loss of the unique cultural, historical and architectural heritage of New Orleans.

New Orleans bred a unique culture unparalleled anywhere else in the world. Its language, its cuisine, its architecture, ironwork and music, were distinctly its own. As New Orleans begins to rise from this devastation, we cannot exacerbate the already staggering losses caused by these storms by allowing further demolition of what remains of the city's culture and history. What is left of New Orleans' architectural heritage must be preserved.

The threat is already apparent. As Patty Gay, executive director of the Preservation Resource Center in New Orleans, tells us, there are rumors about arbitrary, wholesale demolitions being discussed at state and federal levels. In a story aired Sept. 14 by National Public Radio, sociology professor George Woodell of the University of Louisiana expressed his fears that conglomerate real estate brokers will quickly buy out small property owners for pennies on the dollar, consolidating much of the city's landscape into the hands of a few corporate interests. Fred Starr, who was in the final stages of a 16-year restoration of Lombard Plantation in the city's Ninth Ward, notes that the real preservation dangers lie in neighborhoods like Tremé and Mid-City, both rich in 18th and 19th century homes, shops, churches and social halls, the rural outlying areas and the freedmen's cottages and grand mansions along Bayou Lafourche.

But Patty brings us good news as well: most of the city's National Register historic districts still stand. Though damaged, much of the historic fabric of these centuries-old buildings survives and is salvageable. Salvageable, that is, at least from the storm. Now the even greater threat is: can it be saved from redevelopers' and clean-up crews' bulldozers? It won't be easy, as those of us in Charleston, S.C., can attest. Nor will it be quick or financially painless in the short-term.

In 1989, as the eye of Hurricane Hugo passed over Charleston's beautiful, historic peninsular city, thousands of our treasured colonial and antebellum buildings were thrashed by the worst storm most of us had experienced in our lifetimes. Finally, that night's fury gave way to a classically beautiful September morning, and we cautiously ventured out to face the shock of tumbled down porticos and roofs that now lay uselessly strewn about the streets. Giant, centuries-old live oaks were uprooted throughout the city and with them our streets, sidewalks, waterworks, communications and electrical infrastructure. Pilasters, piazza columns, and all types of historic architectural elements were carelessly tossed about without rhyme or reason.

Throughout much of Charleston County, the storm surge pushed the waters four, six, eight feet high into our historic district's houses and businesses. Twenty miles north of the city, residents of McClellanville clutched their children among the rafters of Lincoln High School, struggling to stay above the rush of the 22-foot waters. Charleston, some reported, was gone.

Like Patty Gay and many others now in New Orleans, Charlestonians knew we could not, would not, accept any further loss than had already occurred. Most of what remained was waterlogged and damaged, yet the architectural heritage that made our city great still existed, just as much of New Orleans' does today.

Over the following months, even years, as Charleston pulled herself back together, we learned that ironically, a historic community's greatest threat may not be the storm itself, but rather the often short-sighted, economically driven redevelopment that can follow. Insurance money and government grants can do wonderful things for preservation when in responsible hands. When not, they can afford to tear down what's left of the irreplaceable.

Our historic and architectural legacy is what made Charleston the city it was before Hugo hit, and we made the commitment, as city leaders and citizen preservationists, to not accept any but the highest preservation standards in recovering from Hugo. Mayor Joe Riley, nationally recognized for his preservation ethic, provided exceptional vision and leadership during this period of crisis.

During the recovery, our Board of Architectural Review refused to allow the many requests for substandard materials and building techniques, maintaining a strict policy of requiring in-kind replacements of damaged roofs and architectural elements. In reviewing more than 1,400 applications to the BAR, the city's strong stance actually assisted in the effectiveness of the insurance process.

No, it's not going to be easy, cheap or quick to save the irreplaceable heritage of a city like New Orleans. Yet even though it will be easier and cheaper to tear down your architectural treasures in the short term, the effort to restore everything that's salvageable will be worth it in the long run. Insist that qualified preservation architects analyze every possibility before rushing to demolition. Provide financial incentives to property owners who care enough to invest the time and effort into restoration. Restore rather than demolish, whenever, wherever possible.

There has been so much loss already. We must ensure that we lose nothing more that is restorable of New Orleans' cultural heritage and architecture.