HISTORIC GREEN AT WORK: our 2009 projects
Making a difference…one house, one street, one neighborhood at a time. Become a part of this year’s Historic Green “krewe”! Brief project descriptions are listed below. For more information, download the full project details to gauge your interest in helping out.
1. St. Claude Avenue Cleanup
Saint Claude Avenue is one of two major commercial corridors in the Lower Ninth Ward, running along the north edge of the Holy Cross Neighborhood from the Industrial Canal east to the St. Bernard Parish line. The comprehensive street clean-up will concentrate on this important thoroughfare to revitalize a commercial/residential district.
Scope of Work: Teams will focus on properties between Forstall and Tupelo Streets to clear debris, plant trees and landscaping, construct rain gardens, complete miscellaneous walkway and building repairs, install insulation and radiant barriers, and weatherstrip doors and windows.
2. Green Historic Homes: Radiant Barriers, CFLs & More
The Alliance for Affordable Energy, Louisiana’s advocacy group for fair and equitable energy policies, directs the Greencorps Workforce Training program from its offices in New Orleans. Through this program, young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds are taught valuable skills to help them succeed in the green economy. The skills they learn vary from installation of radiant barriers and weatherization techniques to customer relations. This year, Historic Green volunteers will work side-by-side with these students to learn the skills that will help residents save energy and save money. Residents have signed up for the service over several community meetings at the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, and they are eager to complete this project in the Spring.
Scope of Work: Volunteer teams will work with property owners to install radiant barriers, replace incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), and assist with weatherization in historic homes throughout the area.
3. Green Restoration: 5200 Dauphine
Restoration of 5200 Dauphine Street, a Preservation Resource Center (PRC) property in the Holy Cross Neighborhood, is a continuation of Historic Green’s work from 2008. Last year, volunteers deconstructed the house and salvaged materials for reuse. Only the foundation of the old structure remains on the lot. With support from both the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the U.S. Green Building Council, PRC has applied for a grant through the Kresge Foundation to reconstruct this historic house, modified in a way to achieve LEED Platinum standards. The building will be used as a headquarters for community groups, chiefly the Lower Ninth Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development (CSED). CSED works closely with the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association and serves as a catalyst in the community’s plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.
Scope of Work: Design charrette to support PRC with ideas to make the house a successful LEED Platinum project; tasks will include clearing debris on site, cleaning out premises, repairing the concrete foundation and walkway, and framing new walls.
4. Green Restoration: 429-31 St. Maurice
Owned by PRC, the house at 429-31 St. Maurice Street is a four-bay, five-room deep shotgun double. The structure is of wood-frame construction on brick masonry piers. Decorative brackets on the front facade have been retained, and original interior finishes on the 431 side are intact, including tongue and groove wood walls, ceilings and floors. The 429 side has been gutted. The house has suffered damage from flood water, wind damage and deterioration.
Scope of Work: Tasks could include clearing debris on site, concrete walkway repair, repair/replacement of rotten or damaged structural wood members, framing new walls, installing insulation, weatherstripping doors and windows, and more.
5. Green Restoration: 405 St. Maurice
Another PRC house, 405 St. Maurice Street is an altered five-room deep single shotgun with a shed roofed side addition. The structure is of wood-frame construction with the front portion resting on concrete slab and the rear portion raised on masonry piers. One original brick chimney comes through the roof. Many interior and exterior finishes are severely damaged or missing, and the house has suffered flood and wind damage, deterioration, and termite damage.
Scope of Work: Tasks could include clearing debris on site, concrete walkway repair, repair/replacement of rotten or damaged structural wood members, framing new walls, Installing insulation, weatherstripping doors and windows, and more.
6. Green Restoration: 5515 Dauphine
The PRC house at 5515 Dauphine is a traditional single shotgun with Arts & Crafts detail. It has suffered damage from flood water, wind damage to the roof and deterioration from years of deferred maintenance. The structure is of wood-frame construction on masonry foundation piers. The interior features original hardwood floors, original ceramic tile in the kitchen and bath, as well as original window and door trim throughout with rounded corner details.
Scope of Work: Tasks could include clearing debris on site, concrete walkway repair, repair/replacement of rotten or damaged structural wood members, framing new walls, Installing insulation, weatherstripping doors and windows, and more.
7. Green Schools: Louis Armstrong Elementary, 2401 St. Maurice
On a mid-November day in 1960, federal marshals ushered six-year-old Tessie Prevost and three other black students into McDonough #19 Elementary School. Along with Ruby Bridges at the William Frantz School, their arrival created the first integrated elementary schools in the Deep South. By the end of the school year, all of the white students had left McDonough #19 either for private schools or public schools in neighboring St. Bernard Parish. McDonough #19 was later renamed Louis Armstrong Elementary. This historic school was damaged extensively in the flooding following Hurricane Katrina. The historic structure will be a project site for Historic Green 2009.
Scope of Work: Building assessment with deconstruction experts and former FEMA inspectors; a design charrette to generate ideas for the use of the school as a Community Arts Space; and site beautification.
8. Bayou Bienvenue Wetlands
Bayou Bienvenue lies just to the northeast of the Lower Ninth Ward. For centuries it was a productive cypress swamp ecosystem, and residents caught fish and crabs in its waters. The wetland also served to protect the neighborhood, and indeed all of New Orleans, from hurricane storm surges. After a navigation channel was excavated through the state’s eastern marshlands, saltwater crept into the wetland, killing off the cypress and reducing the area to open water interrupted only by the occasional stump. The entire community is committed to the restoration of this valuable ecosystem, and they’ve constructed a viewing platform to promote awareness and wetland education. Historic Green will be taking steps to help make the overlook platform live up to its full potential.
Scope of Work: Construct an informational display case out of salvaged cypress wood to be installed on the new Bayou viewing platform; pathway improvement to rehabilitate an eroding pathway to the Bayou Overlook.
9. Delery Street Playground Repairs & Cleanup
Located near Jackson Barracks and the Mississippi River Levee, the Delery Street Playground was designed and built by residents of Holy Cross more than 15 years ago, serving as a popular community green space ever since. Historic Green volunteers in 2008 devoted their energies to site cleanup and repair of playground structures. In 2009, this work continues, with the assistance of middle school volunteers from Washington, D.C. and elsewhere.
Scope of Work: Site cleanup, structure repair, installing rain gardens and tree planting across the playground. Volunteers will also participate in the design, construction and planting of rain gardens in locations around the Holy Cross Neighborhood.
10. Lower 9th Ward Village & All Souls Episcopal Church Repairs & Cleanup
The Lower 9th Ward Village is an emerging community center founded by resident Mack McClendon after Hurricane Katrina. Housed in a former sugar cane research facility at 1001 Charbonnet Street in the Holy Cross Neighborhood, this new community space will soon be home to job training programs such as kitchen management and food prep, mentoring programs for youth, computer training classes; meeting space available for all community groups; and meals for the homeless and elderly. All Souls, located in a former Walgreens store at 5500 St. Claude Avenue in Holy Cross, has also become a vital community gathering place for the recovering Lower Ninth Ward. In addition to worship services and bible study, All Souls hosts community meetings for many local organizations.
Scope of Work: Volunteers will participate in the ongoing cleanup, structural repair and interior rehab of both buildings to continue their restoration efforts as public spaces.